'Look, if you want a hat-trick' - Portsmouth boss John Mousinho reveals what he said to Kusini Yengi and why he substituted two-goal hero against Forest Green

The Australian was denied the chance to add to his double and record a maiden senior career hat-trick after being replaced on 76 minutes at New Lawn.

The in-form front man, who netted on his debut against Bristol Rovers on Saturday, was replaced by Colby Bishop with the score 3-1 and the Blues confidently moving towards a place in the hat for the second round draw.

Mousinho admitted he knew he ran the risk of upsetting the 24-year-old, who has made a dream start to life in English football.

However, the decision to replace him in the second half was pre-planned. Meanwhile, the head coach was prepared for any discontent that might have arisen with some words of advice for the Blues rookie upon his exit from the game.

Not that he really needed it, with the striker accepting the call and understanding the reason behind it.

Speaking after the win, with Zak Swanson also scoring between Yengi’s 30th and 75th-minute efforts, Mousinho said: ‘To protect Kas (Kusini), we were going to bring him off anyway.

‘He got the penalty and a couple of my coaches said that he's not going to be happy coming off now on a brace.

‘But he was absolutely fine and I did say to him: ‘look, if you want a hat-trick, just put your chance away in the first half and then you’ve got your three”.

'So he was absolutely fine with that. The more important thing for us is to make sure that we're not chasing individual glory. It's about the team, it's about what's best for the team and the best thing at that point was to protect him, get him off and dust ourselves down for Saturday.’

Yengi registered a couple of missed chances before he struck on the half-hour mark to cancel out Tyrese Omotoye’s opener for the hosts.

Mousinho admitted the former Western Sydney Wanderers man will be disappointed he didn’t score more than two. However, he’s pleased with what he’s seen from the front man so far.

He added: 'Overall, I'm really, really pleased with Kusini's contribution. He was a real physical presence up front.

'I think he probably had four or five really good chances, which again, is great, and he had a really good chance early on which I think he'll be upset he didn't put away.

'Overall, I think his work-rate, the way that he held the ball up and ultimately putting the ball in the back of the net means it's really good things for Kas.'