The connection was instant – the Fratton faithful have taken Christian Saydee to their hearts
And it’s no surprise to John Mousinho, who hailed the man-of-the-match impact from the half-time substitute.
With Tom Lowery struggling with a knee issue, he made way for the summer signing from Bournemouth at the interval, with the Blues 1-0 down.
During the next 45 minutes plus that crucial time added-on, Saydee lifted Fratton Park with a powerful display, driving purposely with the ball and reinvigorating his team-mates.
Fellow substitute Yengi struck in the second minute of stoppage time to level, ensuring the Fratton Park fixture finished 1-1.
Yet it was debutant Saydee who stole the show.
Mousinho told The News: ‘I thought Christian was excellent, he was my man of the match.
‘Straight away you could see he linked well with Colby, he’s very, very difficult to get the ball off and just tweaking that in the second half made a huge difference.
‘He gives us something different and changed the dynamic of the way we went about it, partially because, in the first half, we felt we were getting a lot of joy from Colby on the diags and didn’t really have anyone close enough to him.
‘Then, all of a sudden in the second half, we’re hitting him and getting those knock-downs – and Christian being closer to him really helped us.
‘We always wanted to have that option, we knew Christian would be able to do that and he took his chance on Saturday.
‘I am not surprised the supporters immediately took to him, it’s the way he played. Fans want to see passion, they want to see effort, they want people willing to put their bodies on their line.
‘If the team can add a bit of quality around then that would be great. I don’t think work-rate was lacking on Saturday, just a bit of quality and decision-making.
‘Christian brings that in droves – and really lifted the Fratton Park.’
Saydee netted seven times in 38 appearances during a successful Shrewsbury loan spell under Steve Cotterill last season.
That emergence convinced Pompey to pay an undisclosed fee to land him during their busy transfer window.
And it proved to be a heartening maiden outing against Rovers.
Mousinho added: ‘We’re expecting him to impact games, there’s no target in terms of goals.
‘What we want him to do is keep his work-rate up. He’s had a lot of work to do in pre-season to get himself fit and done that really well. He can sprint and sprint and run again, and it’s very difficult to get the ball off him.
‘We want him to be that presence up front and, ultimately, the main thing is to keep adding chance creation and goal creation to his game – and I think he can do that.’
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