Portsmouth boss reveals why on-loan Norwich youngster deserves his place in spotlight after playing second fiddle to fellow Fratton Park newcomers

The Norwich loanee has had to step aside and let the likes of fellow forwards Kusini Yengi and Christian Saydee take their place in the spotlight following their impressive starts to life at Fratton Park.

Yet what the exciting 20-year-old can bring to the table has no place among the shadows, with the head coach delighted with what the youngster has contributed so far in Pompey colours – including an assist in the Carabao Cup win at Forest Green Rovers.

Indeed, Mousinho is more than happy with Kamara’s input amid four quick-fire runouts for the Blues, and his response after being substituted at half-time in the 4-0 win at Leyton Orient – a game that represented the attacker’s first league start for the club.

When asked about Kamara’s early withdrawal at Brisbane Road and the impact he’s made, Mousinho said: ‘It’s all really pleasing and it’s all part of Abu’s learning process, coming away with us on loan.

‘What will happen with Abu come the end of the season is everything will be ticked off and I’m sure Abu will challenge for a place in Norwich’s side at some point – either in the Championship or the Premier League.

‘All the things that are really important, all of a sudden he’s had them in one week.

‘The first time he’s started a competitive game, the first time he’s started a league game, his first couple of assists, his first taste of life at Fratton, the first time he’s travelled away and started, the first time he’s come off as a sub, the first time he’s had to rebound and then come on and do excellently on Tuesday night – all of that in the space of 10 days. And he’s been brilliant as it as well.

‘He’s great to have round the place, really good in training and you saw again that we have complete trust in him as we put him on to go and influence the game (against Exeter) at 0-0 – a game we thought we had to win.

‘He did that and did a really, really good job and I think he’s been absolutely fantastic, especially considering he’s so young.’

Despite the ringing endorsement, Mousinho confessed there were still plenty of areas Kamara needed to improve on in order to reach the heights predicted.

The Pompey boss added: ‘He gets you on your feet, he attacks, he’s quick, he’s direct.

‘The one thing we would probably like to see a bit more of with Abu is cutting in onto his right foot in the box when we want him to get shots off in the box and really go for the throat in those instances.

‘He’s got so much quality, particularly cutting in from there. He can provide some real threat with the left foot that he’s got, too.

‘We’ve already seen a couple of assists from him against Forest Green, he was heavily involved in the goal against Bristol Rovers and I’m sure, based on his pedigree and based on what we’ve seen in training, we’ll get plenty of goals and assists out of him this season.’