Ian Darke shares what ‘the word is’ on player Portsmouth have signed, could play vs Reading
Portsmouth have signed six new players as part of their preparations for a new Championship season.
Adrian Segecic, a free transfer from Sydney FC, scored the winner as Pompey beat Oxford 1-0 on Saturday.
John Swift and loan signing Florian Bianchini also started the game, while fellow loanee Yang Min-hyeok made a good impression from the substitutes bench.
Centre-midfielders Mark Kosznovszky and Luke Le Roux didn’t make it onto the pitch for that game, but are expected to be involved in the Carabao Cup tie against Reading.
Pompey News presents the exclusive opinion of former Premier League commentator Ian Darke.
Ian Darke gives verdict on Portsmouth’s summer signings
Iconic Premier League commentator Ian Darke, a Portsmouth fan, witnessed the 1-0 win over Oxford and has high hopes for the season ahead.
However, when asked to rate the club’s transfer window, he said he’d prefer to reserve judgment until he’s seen how Le Roux and Kosznovszky perform.
Speaking exclusively to Pompey News, he said: “I think that there might be a couple more arrivals before the end of the window, listening to the way that the manager’s talking, but I want to see what the central midfield area of the pitch looks like.
“They’ve signed two central midfield players. Mark Kosznovszky, the word is he’s useful and comes up with a goal or two, and the South African lad called Le Roux.
“They’re playing in the League Cup tonight, and I’m sure those two are gonna probably be put in the team. I think it’s too early to say. Let’s see after 5-10 games what these lads look like.
“But generally speaking, the recruiting has been fairly good at Portsmouth in recent seasons, so the fans would just say, fingers crossed that the recruiting people have done a pretty good job again this summer.“
Darke lists Segecic among the key players for Portsmouth this season
Segecic’s goalscoring debut against Oxford impressed Darke.
The commentator listed the Australian among the players who would prove to be the most important for Portsmouth this season, also name-dropping Josh Murphy, Colby Bishop, Conor Shaughnessy and Nico Schmid.
Darke also backed John Mousinho to improve on last season’s performance with these players at his disposal.
He said: “It’s a solid enough line-up. You’d hope that they’d be good enough to improve on last season’s position of 16th.
“I don’t see it as a team pressing for the promotion play-offs, but I think they can improve on last season, and then maybe next summer, start to think a bit bigger.”
If they’re given the chance to play tonight, Kosznovszky and Le Roux would love to add themselves to that list of key players. Portsmouth spent more than enough money on the pair for them to justify these ambitions.
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