Mousinho will be raging after Kusini Yengi developments away from Portsmouth
John Mousinho has rarely been able to call upon a fit and firing Kusini Yengi for the vast majority of this season at Portsmouth.
Yengi has only been able to muster a mere 11 appearances in a Blues shirt this season, missing 25 of Portsmouth’s league games alone and having very little impact in their fight to stay in the Championship.
Pompey sit four points and five places clear of the relegation zone going into their final eight matches of the campaign, but none of the 46 goals they’ve scored have seen Yengi directly contribute.
That’s because the 26-year-old Australian international is yet to score or assist a goal in any of his 11 games this term, including four starts, and that’s been to his, Pompey’s, and Mousinho’s detriment.
Yengi announcement will leave Portsmouth fans crestfallen
Despite Yengi’s lack of form and availability this season, Mousinho has retained his faith and started him up front against Preston in Portsmouth’s last match before the current international break began.
| Date | Match | Minutes Played | Goals | Assists |
| 1 March | Luton Town 1-0 Portsmouth | 27 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 March | Portsmouth 1-0 Leeds United | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 March | Preston NE 2-1 Portsmouth | 68 | 0 | 0 |
However, the Australian Socceroos have announced on their website (22 March) that Yengi is now set to return to Fratton Park early, having picked up an injury in training before their match against China.
Yengi didn’t even feature for the Socceroos in their first match of the break against Indonesia, and thus, the striker returning injured from international duty yet again will leave Mousinho tearing his hair out.
Mousinho surely set to make Yengi decision at Portsmouth
Yengi has already missed a three-month chunk of the season for Portsmouth following a knee ligament injury suffered during the November international break, and that will only compound their frustrations.
Mousinho’s side has been through the wringer with injuries this season, often lacking enough players to make up a backline, let alone a matchday squad, with Marlon Pack often deputising in central defence.
While Colby Bishop’s goals have helped to pull Pompey away from the bottom three, the burden on his shoulders certainly hasn’t been helped by Yengi continually being unavailable to feature or start.
With a contract heading for expiry this summer, Yengi’s fitness and form hasn’t warranted an extension in the slightest, and as a result, that start at Deepdale could prove to be his last in a Portsmouth shirt.