Portsmouth boss outlines pathway for Aussie hitman’s return as comeback nears
Kusini Yengi is nearing a return to full Pompey training.
But Blues boss John Mousinho believes the Aussie hitman’s return has to be carefully managed, after injury curtailed an exciting start to his Fratton career.
Yengi has been sidelined since mid-August, after injuring his ankle ligaments in a freak training ground collision with Christian Saydee.
A buzz had grown over the 24-year-old following four goals in just 87 minutes of football, in the wake of his summer capture from Western Sydney Wanderers.
Yengi is now outside completing his rehab, as he closes in on a full return to training and a return to action
Mousinho feels that is exciting news, but there’s a need to deal with the powerful front man’s return carefully.
He said: ‘Kusini has now been on the treatment table for quite a while, and I bet everyone is champing at the bit to see him play.
‘That’s good news. If we can pick picking up results while we have players like that on the physio’s bed, once their back we’ll be even stronger.
‘I think Kusini is about 10 days to two weeks away from training. He’s out on the grass and it’s about managing him back and his fitness levels.
‘There’s a couple of things with Kusini.
‘He missed a couple of weeks in pre-season with an ankle injury and we didn’t see him before the Crawley game, because he’d been injured since Spain.
‘There’s that and the fact he didn’t have a pre-season.
‘One of the things which affected a couple of players last year was they didn’t have pre-seasons, came back and probably pushed themselves too far.
‘He’s been back for six to eight weeks all together, so we have to get the fitness levels right and balance that off with when is the right time to throw him back in.
‘You know what it’s going to be like with Kas, he’s going to be raring to go. So maybe we have to hold the reins slightly.
‘He’s such a powerful athlete as well, that can sometimes be a recipe for disaster.
‘So we need to turn it the other way and make it a recipe for success.’
Despite striking a note of caution about Yengi’s return, Mousinho can totally understand why Pompey fans can’t wait to see their new boy back in action after the glimpses of quality he’s shown so far.
He added: ‘Four goals in one start – two of those were in the league against Orient and Bristol Rovers.
‘Who knows what effect that had on our season?
‘That goal against Bristol Rovers gave us a big lift on the opening day.
‘He been deadly in front of goal and on his one start scored twice – and could’ve had a hat-trick.
‘That’s really exciting and why we brought Kusini to the club.’
