Portsmouth boss' plea to Fratton faithful as 'exciting' newcomer lined up for eagerly-awaited Blues bow

Yet John Mousinho has called for the Fratton faithful to be ‘patient’ as Kusini Yengi limbers up for an eagerly-anticipated entrance into English football.

The Blues have high hopes for the 24-year-old signed from Western Sydney Warriors earlier this month for around £80,000.

So far they’ve resisted fielding him in pre-season fixtures, focusing on bringing his fitness up to speed after arriving at Fratton Park a week later than many of his new playing colleagues.

However, according to Mousinho, Yengi could finally be let off the leash against Gosport on Friday (7pm kick-off) or the Hawks on Saturday (1pm kick-off).

But he has warned supporter patience is required as the striker adjusts after making the switch from the A-League.

Pompey’s head coach told The News: ‘The sky’s the limit in terms of what Kusini can achieve. He’s very exciting, can catch the eye, and could give us absolutely anything.

‘It’s obviously up to us to get the best out of him and is going to be a big adjustment coming over here and playing, so we’ll need to be patient.

‘We have to be patient with everything. I know that’s difficult, but this is the first full pre-season we’ve had with the boys and we’re going to try to play a certain way, which will take a bit of patience.

‘Of course we’re fully aware of the pressures of trying to win games, we know that, we are trying to put that all together at once.

‘With any new signing coming into the club, whether no games in the Football League or having played 500 matches, it’s difficult coming in and adjusting to a new club. It can be a new playing style, new team-mates, and we want to make that transition easier.

‘It’s particularly difficult coming over from Australia, a different continent, a different hemisphere, with the Football League’s 46 games in pretty much an eight-month winter with hardly any breaks.

‘That’s not to say Kusini can’t adjust really quickly, but it's wise for us to give time to all the new signings, especially ones like Terry (Devlin) and Kusini from different countries.

‘Kusini is just different, very, very different, from what you see when over here. He’s a 6ft 3in pacy centre-forward with a lot of technical ability – and we’re all looking forward to him playing’

Fellow newcomer Gavin Whyte is also expected to feature against either Gosport or the Hawks in forthcoming friendlies.

Although Regan Poole, who was unveiled on Monday, may have to wait a little while longer before given the green light to feature in a match.

Mousinho added: ‘Kusini played a lot off the left last season. I don’t think that suits him particularly well, but he can definitely play a bit more narrow off the left.

‘It’s not his game as far as I saw, for me he needs to play down the middle as a centre-forward.

‘Kusini has all the attributes and all the talent, it’s about putting all that together at the same time and – at his age – we are looking to really accelerate that process.’