'It would be much better': Why Portsmouth boss doesn't want star man to get international call-up
The attacker was called up for Australia in the last international break, yet wasn’t named in the squad for two friendlies
John Mousinho admits he would prefer Adrian Segecic to be overlooked by Australia for the next international break.
Instead he is convinced it would be ‘much better’ for the 21-year-old to remain on the south coast and continue working on the training pitch with the Blues.
Segecic was called up by the Socceroos for the first time during last month’s international break, although his involvement was restricted purely to training, with boss Tony Popovic not including him in squads for two friendlies with New Zealand.
Next week marks the latest international break, with Australia booked in for friendlies against Canada (October 11) and USA (October 15).
And following Segecic’s third goal of the season in Wednesday night’s 2-2 draw with Watford, Mousinho is hoping the call doesn’t arrive this time around.
Portsmouth boss: I was surprised he didn’t get a bit more involvement
Pompey’s head coach told The News: ‘Segs has always got that impact and he has the magic, he puts the ball into the back of the net. He’s made a name for himself over in Australia doing that and he’s starting to make a name for himself here.
‘Would I want him to be called up for Australia in the international break? Probably not considering he didn’t play last time and didn’t end up on the bench. It would be much better, from my point of view, for him to be here.
‘I don't know a huge amount about the Australian national squad, apart from having many of their players, and I was surprised he didn’t get a bit more involvement.
‘This league is absolutely brutal, it's physical, it’s non-stop and Segs had two weeks where he went away, didn’t do a huge amount and had a couple of long flights. That probably didn’t help him come back off the international break.
‘Segs was brilliant in pre-season and really good going into the last international break. With attacking players, a dip is going to happen. Sometimes you see players right at the top of their game do it.
‘If you ask them to be creative, if you ask them to take players on, they are going to give the ball away - and sometimes it’s going to be frustrating.’
Goalscoring hero against Watford
The former Sydney FC attacker had previously started Pompey’s opening seven Championship fixtures this season, before finding himself on the bench on Wednesday night.
Yet his goalscoring entrance secured a point for the Blues to end a run of successive defeats which had seen them drop down the table following an encouraging start to the campaign.
‘It’s probably down to adjustment to the league’
Mousinho added: ‘With Segs it’s just adjustment, adjustment to the pace, adjustment to the position we put him in. It was good to see him again coming in on the right and scoring.
‘We talk about whether he’s best as a 10 or better on the right, but he has actually scored a couple of goals playing on the right.
‘It’s probably down to adjustment to the league and adjustment to the pace more than anything else. Ultimately, if Segs puts the ball into the back of the net he has done a great job.’