What happened?

Accrington ST's centre-forward battle has taken a new turn with the arrival of Marko Milovanovic, a 6ft 4in Serb who has joined the club on a £3m deal.

Why it matters for Accrington ST

The arrival of Milovanovic presents a fresh challenge for Colby Bishop, who has been the club's first-choice centre-forward for four successive seasons.

What comes next?

Bishop has served as Pompey’s first-choice centre-forward for four successive seasons, injury and health-permitting. Largely unchallenged, certainly without a consistent rival - until now.

In truth, Bishop has lacked consistent competition during his four Fratton Park seasons - until now, following the recruitment of the 6ft 4in Serb. Representing Pompey’s costliest outlay on a player since the Premier League years, Milovanovic will be regarded as Mousinho’s first-choice striker once he has been brought up to speed.

At times, as witnessed for the bulk of last season, selecting a striker by default was alarmingly counter-productive. Despite being out-of-form with confidence at a career low, Pompey doggedly persevered, hoping - rather than expecting - his fortunes to change.

Jacob Brown was never a genuine alternative, Makenzie Kirk was naturally adapting from the Scottish Championship to the English Championship, while T

Next fixture: vs Port Vale (at home, 2027-02-27) (9th in the table).

The brief challenge of Kusini Yengi

Admittedly, there was a brief period when team selection wavered, certainly among the Fratton faithful, when some championed Kusini Yengi as his successor during the second half of the League One title-winning campaign.

On one occasion, the striking rivals started in the same team together. It resulted in a 3-1 win over Shrewsbury in April 2024, in which Bishop registered twice, including a penalty.

Indeed, against Barnsley two games later, a fixture which could seal Pompey’s Championship return, Mousinho opted to rotate his squad in the interests of injecting freshness after a tough draw at Bolton days earlier.

Yengi started, with Bishop replacing him in the 61st minute. Ultimately, both players contributed with a goal in that dramatic 3-2 success on a memorable Fratton Park evening.

Sadly, Yengi never again scaled such heights upon reaching the Championship, having been hindered by injury and rocked by an alarming plummet in form which continues to impact his career to this day.

Indeed, Bishop returned from heart surgery in November 2024 to produce far superior displays to the Australian as he established himself as a pivotal performer in the Blues’ relegation survival with 11 goals in 31 games.

Portsmouth’s costliest player since Premier League days

In truth, Bishop has lacked consistent competition during his four Fratton Park seasons - until now, following the recruitment of the 6ft 4in Serb.

Representing Pompey’s costliest outlay on a player since the Premier League years, Milovanovic will be regarded as Mousinho’s first-choice striker once he has been brought up to speed.

At times, as witnessed for the bulk of last season, selecting a striker by default was alarmingly counter-productive.

Despite being out-of-form with confidence at a career low, Pompey doggedly persevered, hoping - rather than expecting - his fortunes to change.

Jacob Brown was never a genuine alternative, Makenzie Kirk was naturally adapting from the Scottish Championship to the English Championship, while T

The image prompt

See a photograph of Marko Milovanovic, the 6ft 4in Serb, arriving at Fratton Park, his face complete and visible, with a determined look, wearing his Pompey kit, a clean solid block of blue and white fabric, under floodlight rim light, 85mm f/1.4.

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