The Championship plan for Portsmouth’s new attacking starlet after international breakthrough
An international goal for Northern Ireland under-21s and battle against Germany means it’s been a productive period for Makenzie Kirk, ahead of his Pompey return.
Makenzie Kirk is ready to compete at Championship level now after making his mark at international level.
And John Mousinho is adamant Pompey will push for the new boy to have an immediate impact, after a successful period away with Northern Ireland.
Northern Ireland goal breakthrough for Makenzie Kirk
But the Blues boss stressed there is no pressure on the deadline day arrival at PO4 to make the grade straightaway in the second tier.
Kirk is set to link up with his club side once again ahead of the trip to Leicester City, after a busy period at under-21 level.
The 21-year-old bagged his first international goal against Malta last Friday in a 2-0 Euro qualifier win for Tommy Wright’s side. That was then followed up with a gutsy 2-1 reverse against Germany on Tuesday night, with Kirk playing 80 minutes of the game in Belfast.
Mousinho saw that as a fruitful period for the new striker, coming off the back of a couple of Championship cameos since joining from Scottish side St Johnstone.
Now Kirk has to be reintegrated into the Pompey side after a whirlwind period in his life, with the Blues head coach outlining how he sees his immediate pathway forward.
He said: ‘I’m pleased for Makenzie. He’s played two games, the second one a really good performance against Germany in a tight game with one of the home nations being competitive against one of the big boys of Europe. That’s a positive for Makenzie but it’s also minutes for him, which is a positive for us.
‘He’s already come in and played in the Championship, which I think is an incredible achievement for someone coming from the second division of Scottish football.
‘It’s a really big step up and a really big adjustment, we signed Makenzie because we think we can do it. He doesn’t need to come in and play 40 games in a season, but we will push him to play as many games as he can.
‘We would never have included him in squads or brought him on, if we didn’t think he could compete at the level. It’s about re-introducing him slowly into that. He’s had a couple of weeks away from us, but he’s had competitive football which is great.’
Mousinho: ‘No huge pressure’ on Kirk
Mousinho has talked publicly about the dynamic in the striker department at Pompey, with Colby Bishop firmly established and both Kirk and the injured Thomas Waddingham viewed as young out-and-out strikers. There’s also Florian Bianchini, who spent much of last season playing as a number nine in the Championship for Swansea.
He added: ‘We’ve spoke about some of the reasons why we’ve done that (signed young players) with centre-forwards around Colby. Mackenzie is a player who’s shown a lot of talent in Scotland we thought we’d bring in. We know he can affect the side now, but certainly there’s no huge pressure there.
‘There might be for some other players coming in, who we expect to do something straightaway. We’ve got a couple of good examples. It’s not just age, but we’re not signing John Swift and Conor Chaplin to ease them in over the next couple of years.
‘He’s played a fair bit on the left for St Johnstone and the right a bit. We’re buying him as a nine, though. We used him on the left against Ipswich and athletically he can do that, but primarily he’s a nine.’