Why Portsmouth's 'excellent' £3m man is impressing John Mousinho
The Serbian striker has scored three times in 11 matches since arriving in English football
John Mousinho reflected on Marko Milovanovic’s impact in English football and insisted: He’s adapted very, very well.
Last weekend’s victory over Millwall represented the Serbian’s 11th Blues outing since joining from Spanish side Almeria in July.
Without a full pre-season under his belt and challenged to perform in a different country, Mousinho initially opted to ease the 23-year-old into Pompey’s first-team via the bench.
Now the £3m man is regarded as his first-choice striker, scoring three times to date, most recently converting a penalty in the 1-0 victory at Norwich earlier this month.
And with Milovanovic set to lead the attack once more at Burnley on Saturday (3pm), Mousinho has applauded the attacker’s influence.
‘I think very, very positively about Marko’s impact here so far’
The Blues’ head coach told The News: ‘Marko has three league goals in limited starts, I think he has come over and adapted to English football very, very well.
‘He is still young, for someone of his size and physicality it’s easy to forget that, but I think very, very positively about Marko’s impact here so far.
‘This is a different league compared to the top league in Portugal, how physical it is, coming up against Jake Cooper, Tristan Crama and Caleb Taylor last weekend.
‘We spoke about how physical and dominant you can be as centre-halves at this level, but still with the athleticism and the ball-playing ability - and that’s what we’re going to have to deal with week in, week out.
‘Marko, for the most part, has adapted to that really well and he’s got to keep improving. Whether you are Marko, Colby, Wadds, Tyrese or whoever is playing up top, you've got to be able to adapt to that and use your strengths appropriately.
‘He can be very, very good at holding the ball up at times. If it breaks down on him, we must make sure we have that adaptation, particularly because of the physicality of the league. But I’m not saying to Marko “Look, this is a gaping area of your game and you need to improve”.
‘His all-round game is very, very good and to come in and score three goals with the impact he’s had has been excellent.’
Handed first Portsmouth start in September
Milovanovic had to be patient for his maiden Pompey start, which eventually arrived against Derby in September.
Until that point, Colby Bishop had been in the starting XI for the opening four matches of the campaign, albeit failing to score.
The long-serving striker is now sidelined with bone bruising to his knee, with Thomas Waddingham and Tyrese Shade currently providing the centre-forward competition to Milovanovic.
Waddingham came off the bench against Millwall to replace the Serb in the 71st minute - and then claimed a dramatic late winner.
Yet with three goals in 11 appearances, Milovanovic remains the Blues’ joint-top scorer alongside Adrian Segecic.
‘I have no concerns over Marko’
Mousinho added: ‘I think he’s getting better, I have no concerns over Marko.
‘He’s spent time in the treatment room and taken a minute to adapt to the pace of the game. We took our time with him at the start of the season, introducing him into the starting XI, introducing him onto the bench.
‘He has responded very well and there is big competition from Wadds, Tyrese and Colby. The more players you have fit in the squad, the better.’
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