'The worst thing we could do is flog him to death': Portsmouth boss defends selection decision after supporter criticism
The former Almeria man has scored two goals in six appearances for the Blues this season
John Mousinho is convinced he has been vindicated in applying the brakes to Marko Milovanovic’s Pompey career amid supporter criticism.
Although he believes the Serbian striker is still ‘quite a way’ from completing his first 90 minutes for the Blues.
Mousinho’s handling of the £3m summer signing has been questioned in some quarters after deciding against starting him in the opening four fixtures, with Colby Bishop preferred.
However, Milovanovic has been named in Pompey’s last two starting XI’s, while scored his second goal for his new club in Saturday’s welcome 2-0 win over Cardiff.
After not having a pre-season, the former Almeria man is now six weeks into his Fratton Park career - and the Blues’ head coach has vowed to continue easing him into first-team action.
‘The worst thing we could possibly do is flog him to death’
Mousinho told The News: ‘We signed Marko properly just before we went out to Darmstadt. He’d had no pre-season whatsoever. Out in Portugal they hadn't allowed him to train with the side, they hadn't allowed him to play in a game.
‘So Marko came to us a week before the start of the season with no preparation whatsoever. In good shape, but he'd been doing a lot of work in the gym, so we couldn't play out in Darmstadt. We built him up to have some minutes against West Ham and then we've tried to build him up from there.
‘So bear in mind Marko signed six weeks ago, all of our lads had six or seven weeks worth of pre-season going into the West Ham game.
‘The worst thing we could possibly do is flog him to death. If he breaks down then we don't have a centre-forward we signed. At the minute he and Colby are working very, very well off each other with one on, one off.
‘Obviously whoever doesn't start the game will be really disappointed, but we've got to manage the pair of them and keep working towards having that good partnership.
‘We will keep working with Marco on his fitness, on where he's in the box, but, ultimately, he earned that space to put the ball in the back of the net, which you expect him to finish. So we’re very happy with him.’
Longest appearance in a Pompey shirt
Saturday marked Milovanovic’s longest time on the pitch for Pompey, featuring for 69 minutes before being withdrawn for Bishop.
He was involved for 66 minutes after starting against Derby in the week, while the Serb’s four substitute outings never exceeded 30 minutes.
Still, that’s now two goals in six matches, while striker rival Bishop has hit the target just four times in his last 51 appearances.
Mousinho added: ‘Marko is probably quite a way from 90 minutes at the minute.
‘We're looking at around the 55-60 minute mark where he starts to struggle. He's got a good week of training ahead and we will probably build them up.
‘Segs is different because he can just go and go and go all day and, to be fair to Abs, he’s put himself in a good spot.
‘But we’d want that high output from the front four and then the ability to chop and change around 60-65 minutes.
‘In the last couple of years we haven't had enough of that, so we haven't had enough fitness at the top end of the pitch in terms of players available.
‘Murph the first season pretty much had to play 90 minutes, while last season Milli Alli had to do the same. So just having that freshness is something which can be really advantageous.’