Portsmouth boss details plan for new arrival to feature after transfer capture
The new arrival’s registration has been confirmed by Fifa, the FA and EFL - with John Mousinho outlining his readiness for Championship involvement.
New midfielder Iyad Mohamed is ready to make his Pompey debut against Derby County.
John Mousinho has confirmed the Comoros international is available to ‘play some part’ against the Rams tomorrow, following his capture from Portuguese outfit Casa Pia last week.
Mousinho on Mohamed: ‘He’s ready to play some part in the game.’
And the Blues boss has welcomed the addition of ‘real physicality’ in the middle of the park in the shape of the 25-year-old.
Pompey sealed Mohamed’s arrival on a three-year deal last week for a fee in the region of £350,000.
Mousinho confirmed all the requisite paperwork is in place to allow the French-born player to feature tomorrow.
The Blues head coach feels Mohamed isn’t ready to start, but has a part to play as his new side look for their maiden home win of the season.
Mousinho said: ‘Iyad is going to offer real physicality in the middle of the park.
‘He’s athletic, he’s dominant and he can play as well - that’s the reason we brought him in. We’re looking forward to having him in
‘It’s a really difficult one because I ask a lot from the recruitment department, in terms of what we’re trying to add in there.
‘We’ve got a player in there now with a bit of experience, but there’s loads of bits of his game we can definitely improve and get him up to scratch with the way we want him to play - and go from there.
‘He’s ready, he could’ve actually travelled and been in the squad at Bristol City.
‘But with the week he’s had and not having a massive pre-season we wanted to make sure we got a session into him on Friday and Saturday.
‘So he’s now ready for Derby. He’s not ready to start, but he’s ready to play some part in the game.’
Mousinho sees Mohamed bringing the kind of qualities he felt was absent in Pompey’s weekend defeat at Bristol City.
The Blues head coach saw a dearth of physicality centrally as Rocco Shein was withdrawn for Ebou Adams at the break.
Mousinho is confident Mohamed will help remedy that situation.
He added: ‘It’s an area of the park where we’ve let ourselves down a couple of times on Saturday with our physicality. So that’s something I feel we need to add in there.’