Portsmouth title favourite Kusini Yengi's honest admission about where it went wrong for him

Kusini Yengi has pulled no punches in an honest assessment of an immensely ‘frustrating’ second season which ended his Pompey career.

And, in a candid interview, he is adamant his desire to play internationally for Australia should not be blamed for ongoing injury woes.

Having been a pivotal performer in reaching the Championship just 14 months ago, the striker would feature just 14 times once there - and is now at Aberdeen.

Injuries devastated his 2024-25 campaign, sustaining two groin issues in the opening five weeks, before being ruled out for three months with cruciate knee ligament damage and then sidelined by a hamstring problem.

By the season’s end, John Mousinho had overlooked the 26-year-old for his final two 20-man squads, despite being fit and available.

And Yengi has lifted the lid over where it all went wrong.

Ex-Portsmouth striker: My body kept breaking down

He told The News: ‘If you had watched me last year, you would know I’m a player who can score a lot of goals. I didn’t score any goals this season, so you definitely didn’t see the best of me in the Championship.

‘It’s frustrating for everyone, it’s frustrating for me as a player and for the staff at Pompey to not get the best out of me. For the fans as well, they want all the players playing to their best capability - and I wasn’t able to do that this season.

‘The previous year, I had pretty much played the whole way through, I was feeling really good. Then, coming into this season, my body was breaking down a bit, I struggled to get it right or feel confident with it, which led to other smaller issues - and the same thing happened over and over again.

‘Injuries aren’t everything, but it’s difficult when you get injured once and then play a few games, you’re coming off the bench, then maybe get a start in there somewhere, then get injured again.

‘There’s no time to gain momentum, it’s hard to gain a feel for the game, it’s hard to get that robustness into your body. From there it makes the season a lot more difficult.

‘This second pre-season was a lot tougher for me. With the absence of Colby, I was a bit overloaded in a way, being kind of the only real striker, and my body broke down a few days before the start of the season. From that point, it was hard to pick up where I left off.

‘I felt this pre-season was a bit tougher for me. I had less time off in the summer with the national team commitments, I was feeling very fatigued in sessions and, ultimately, my body gave way.

‘It was so difficult to get that trust back in my body after it had broken down on me a few times. Injuries are like that in football, England is a cruel football environment on the body with the amount of games you play and the travel across the country.

‘Don’t blame Australia’

‘I went away with the national team and the knee injury came out of nowhere, which put me back to square one again, but I would never, ever turn down my country - and I don’t think any of the injuries had anything to do with my national team travel or with me playing for the national team.

‘The first one was the knee, which was an impact injury, a coincidence. I was really unlucky in that someone tackled me, I fell and hit my knee on the ground.

‘The second was a hamstring injury the day after a game in a training session when I had already been in Australia for a week. We kind of figured it could have been related to the knee injury and because of the sprinting I’d done since coming back from my knee injuries.

‘Although they were two injuries which coincidentally happened while I was away with the national team, I don't think playing for Australia had anything to do with it.’

Yengi was released at the season’s end after Pompey opted against activating a 12-month club option to retain him.

According to the grateful striker, the Blues had released him on a free transfer out of respect for his contribution to the League One title campaign, rather than demanding a fee and restricting potential interest.

As a consequence, earlier this month he was able to join Scottish Cup champions Aberdeen on a three-year contract as he sought a fresh start - and hopefully free from injury.

‘Portsmouth gave me the best season of my career’

He added: ‘The title-winning season was the best of my career so far. It was my first silverware - and I’m just grateful I managed to play a big role in that and contributed.

‘I will miss the boys and the staff there. I’ve made really good friendships and got really great connections with the people there.

‘I’m a player who loves to be at the training ground on days off, I’m constantly looking to improve and to learn. I spend a lot of time with staff one-on-one on days off. I’ve definitely become more of a man in my time in England.

‘I will miss playing in front of the Fratton End, scoring in front of them. Unfortunately I was starved of that feeling this season, but I experienced it so many times last year.

‘And the fans, of course. I’ve read their nice comments and it means such a lot. I am grateful for everything, grateful for what I was able to achieve at Pompey during my time here. I will never forget that.’

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