Portsmouth boss details first-team plans for exciting Australian newcomer - including West Brom involvement

The Brisbane Roar recruit has trained twice since signing this week, although is still awaiting clearance to play in the Championship.

Regardless, he will travel with Pompey’s squad to West Brom on Saturday as the Blues seek to ease him into the first-team environment.

Mousinho insists Waddingham is not yet a ‘front-line centre-forward’, although remains an exciting prospect who can impact the side this season.

Certainly the Blues are prepared to provide a Championship stage for the striker to maintain his promising development through match minutes.

Yet Mousinho has warned the teenager must firstly be allowed time to adjust to new surroundings on the training pitch, before considering first-team involvement.

Mousinho told The News: ‘Tom’s first-team pathway will be pretty much straight in, to be honest. There’s no real time to dwell on anything, it will ultimately be the same as everyone else - try to impress as much as you possibly can in training.

‘If Tom ends up playing minutes in the Championship this year, that’s a really good return for someone of such a young age coming over from a different league and being good enough to do it.

‘There's no point in saying look we’ve brought Tom in as that front-line centre-forward because we haven’t. We’ve brought him in as one who we think can affect the side now in a certain way.

‘We don’t think he’s one we are going to loan straight out and try to develop in a different way, so he’s in and around the first-team, getting as many minutes as he can between now and the end of the season.

‘I think he will develop a huge amount in that time - and then just keep pushing from there. But he needs that adjustment in training first.

‘Tom has come over from Australia, a different climate, a different pace of game, different league. The training intensity is also naturally different.

‘Colby Bishop has been so prolific at League One level and now adjusted to the Championship. He has been brilliant and will want more goals. He is one of the top, top centre-forwards at this level, who has scored four goals in 13 games.

‘So you can't expect a 19-year-old to come over from Australia and all of a sudden start banging in goals left, right and centre. There’s definitely going to be a period of adjustment.’

Certainly Waddingham’s arrival will provide a centre-forward alternative to Colby Bishop.

Bishop, who scored his fourth goal of the season in the 3-1 win over Stoke, has started every league match since his return to action in November.

Mousinho added: ‘Tom is a good size, about 6ft 1in, he’s mobile and can run. He’s really good in terms of his athleticism, his top speed and out of possession. He’s very aggressive and a front-footed presser.

‘Areas we want to improve quickly with Tom are adjusting to the physicality with his back to goal and his aerial ability. It’s linking up play, which Colby is very, very good at.

‘What he has got - and what we have seen and the fans are excited about - is an eye for goal. Once we knit all those things together, we have a really good all-round striker.’