Stoke 1 Portsmouth 3: Neil Allen's verdict: A golden finale for Blues 'overachiever', yet questions still remain
The Croatian number 10 netted a memorable Blues hat-trick at Stoke while playing out of position
A classy hat-trick has emphatically elevated Adrian Segecic’s encouraging maiden Pompey season to another echelon, yet, curiously, questions still remain.
‘I don’t think he is a right winger, but we have a bit of an embarrassment of riches in some ways with the 10s we’ve got, ‘ John Mousinho told The News after Saturday’s win at Stoke.
‘Segs, Chappers, Swifty and Browny can play there as well - and we have gone with a combination of those over the season.
‘I do see him as a 10 next season, that’s the position I think he is best at. But it depends what else is around and it depends on how we see that fit across the front four.’
A day for fringe players to shine - but Segecic stole the show
With the Blues’ fringe players challenged to shine in a Stoke dead rubber, it was their leading scorer who, ultimately, seized the headlines in a stunning individual display to inspire a 3-1 triumph in their penultimate fixture.
Not that Mousinho required convincing over the Croatian Under-21s talents, his maiden season in the English game had long been established as a success, even labelled as an ‘overachievement’ by the admiring head coach.
However, he continues to be undecided over whether Segecic’s future beyond this season lies in the favoured number 10 role where his best performances in a Pompey shirt, Saturday excepted, have largely arrived in.
Once again occupying an unaccustomed right-wing at the bet365 Stadium, the 21-year-old capped a brilliant week on a personal level with a 50-minute treble as he savours a purple end to the campaign.
Including that wonderful finish from outside the box in the Coventry mauling, that’s now four goals and three assists in Segecic’s last five matches. A remarkable haul contributed from the right wing.
Certainly he isn’t a conventional winger, not just lacking experience in the role but also without the pace and directness Mousinho so admires in Josh Murphy, Milli Alli, Gustavo Caballero, Keshi Anderson and, to an extent, Harvey Blair.
A deadly left-foot
What the former Sydney man does possess, however, is an outstanding left foot, with the cherished capability of scoring from outside the box, sometimes with a mere glimpse of goal within his sights.
In a team which has struggled so desperately to net this season, he’s arguably Pompey’s only explosive goal-scoring player within their squad. Unsurprisingly, he now has five more goals than any of his team-mates.
Of his 23 starts this season, just 10 have been in the number 10 role Segecic has built his flourishing reputation upon in a fledgling career which persuaded Pompey to swoop for his services in June 2025.
Indeed, his 13 goals for Sydney FC last season established him as the A-League’s leading scorer, alerting clubs from Germany, Holland, Scotland, Belgium, Austria, Denmark and the USA last summer.
A match-winning strike against Oxford United on his Blues debut in August 2025, left-footed from outside the box, announced his entrance into the English game.
Now Segecic is ending his maiden season in some style, albeit in a role Mousinho continues to admit isn’t best suited for a player of his talents.
’He doesn’t necessarily have that out-and-out pace which maybe we look for’
‘To accommodate Segs and his goalcoring and the fact he can put the ball into the back of the net, we have played him wide when we think we are probably balanced as a side by having Chappers in the team. So we’re thinking “We will play Chappers, so can we play Segs as well?’ Mousinho added.
‘He’s had to bide his time this year, he’s been out of the side more than he would have liked, but that’s part of what we’d expect from a young pro. He is still only 21 and is extremely fresh in terms of experience in the league.
‘What we want from Segs is that direct threat when he is wide. We still want him to run in behind, but if he pops into those pockets and receives the ball and creates from there, I think he can do that very well, particularly coming inside onto his left foot.
‘When we play him wide, Segs is quick enough and he’s sharp enough, but he doesn’t necessarily have that out-and-out pace which maybe we look for in a Gustavo or Murph. He’s a very different player.
‘That’s why I see Segs as a 10, but he has filled in brilliantly well there this season. That’s 10 goals now, a lot out of position, which is very special.’
Segecic opened the scoring at Stoke in the 32nd minute, when Blair’s sublime through ball picked out his run in the box. Taking two touches, his third was a left-footed shot which crashed into the net.
Although the unmarked Lamine Cisse levelled with a 50th-minute header from a left-wing corner, Segecic restored the Blues’ lead by kneeing Josh Murphy’s cross in at the far post.
Then, on 82 minutes, the hat-trick was completed when he surged through the middle and placed a left-footed shot with perfection into the far corner of the net to seal a 3-1 win.
‘I think he has overachieved considering what we probably expected from him at the start of the season,’ admitted Mousinho. Intriguingly, there’s still one game remaining in 2025-26.