Pompey have endured a difficult return to the Championship, winning two out of their opening 15 matches and taking a total of just 12 points. Amongst their seven defeats thus far was a 3-1 loss at the hands of Sunderland on the final day of August. Strikes from Alan Browne and Romaine Mundle—as well as an own goal courtesy of Zak Swanson—were enough to settle the meeting in the visitors’ favour at Fratton Park.
And Regis Le Bris’ side evidently left a lasting impression on their opponents too. Discussing the step-up between League One and the second tier in a recent interview, Australian forward Yengi said: “For me, honestly, I haven’t found much of a gap at all. I wasn’t really involved too much at the start of the season, but the games I’ve played so far I haven’t found much of a difference. The defenders are still a bit dirty off the ball and I don’t really get too many free-kicks in my favour. It’s a similar kind of thing, but it’s different from team to team.
“We played against Sunderland and I thought they had great quality in that game and it looked like it was a big jump from League One to the Championship. But at the weekend we played Preston—and Plymouth before—and, to be honest, I played teams in League One who I thought were a lot stronger than them.”
Yengi’s comments echo those of Pompey manager John Mousinho, who was also full of praise for Sunderland following their win on the south coast. At the time, he said: “We look at the Sunderland side and what they’ve done over the past few weeks and they’ve really put sides to the sword and been excellent. They were excellent against us in a different way, much more clinical.”
