Portsmouth handed Blackburn Rovers boost as new signing arrives to bolster options

Blues boss has confirmed the Swedish international is earmarked to be in contention for Saturday’s return to Championship action at Fratton Park.

Milosevic arrived as a free agent signing earlier this month after leaving AIK Stockholm, with the 33-year-old brought in to aid Mousinho’s squad amid their defensive woes.

With Conor Shaughnessy, Rob Atkinson, Hayden Matthews and Ibane Bowat all out, the former Nottingham Forest man offers a much-needed specialist option in the middle of defence.

Milosevic hasn’t played since the end of the Swedish season in November, with Pompey giving the player time to get up to speed.

But Mousinho sees the experienced operator being ready to affect the first team picture for a massive Fratton Park clash this weekend.

He said: ‘I felt we were short on centre-backs, so we needed to explore the options.

‘I didn’t want to take Alexander for the sake of it, but we very quickly whittled the list down to the best four or five and Alexander was at the top of the list.

‘He’s played this season but a different season in Sweden, which finished in November. It’s never going to be perfect with free agents, but he’s got relatively recent playing experience, keeps himself fit and is pretty much ready to slot straight in.

‘We’ve got up until the end of the international break to get him going - we should have him then.’

Mousinho has largely favoured using skipper Marlon Pack as a makeshift central defender, as he’s dealt with continued defensive injury issues this term.

But at Preston last time out, the head coach went down the route of moving Connor Ogilvie into the middle of his back line and employing Cohen Bramall at left-back.

Now Mousinho is welcoming someone with the defensive assets he wants at a key moment.

AIK Stockholm arrival’s assets

Mousinho added: ‘Alexander has played in this country before with Nottingham Forest for a spell. He’s a full Swedish international with nine caps and he’s had a really good career.

‘He’s a commanding centre-half, in terms of his physical presence, leads the line well and has captained AIK recently.

‘So he has a wealth of experience in terms of career, is decent on the ball and a very good defender. I think he will fit in very well.’

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