'Much more comfortable': Portsmouth boss relishing restoring summer signing to his rightful position

The summer recruit from Barnsley has so far featured just twice in his favoured right-back role for the Blues.

Instead he has been deputising in the centre of Pompey’s defence, including the last three Championship fixtures, with early-season injuries biting deep.

Mousinho has praised Williams’ willingness to step forward and help the club in its time of need during the crucial absences of defenders Regan Poole, Tom McIntyre, Conor Shaughnessy and Ibane Bowat.

Now, with availability on the rise, after four outings as a centre-half the 24-year-old is closing in on reuniting the position which will bring out his best.

Mousinho told The News: ‘Jordan has done a really good job deputising at centre-half and it’s a position that’s not too unfamiliar for him, he played as a right-sided centre-half for the majority of last year for Barnsley.

‘I don’t think it’s going to be a huge problem wherever he plays, but he is much more comfortable at right-back.

‘Those are the sort of players we bring in, we know they just want to play games, wherever they’re selected. Jordan is one of them, I always knew he was going to get on with it, that’s why we picked him there.

‘As long as we have the players back in the building and ready to go, he will return to right-back. He was always going to be good cover at centre-half if we needed him - and we will always bear that in mind - but we see him as a right-back.

‘We saw what he could do in the first few games. He’s a really experienced right-back at this level and has the pedigree to be a modern-day full-back.

‘’He can get forward, defends really well, technically is also good, and we can build a lot from the back with Jordan in the side.

‘His outstanding attribute as a right-back is probably his defensive work. We are trying to encourage him to get forward a bit more and really influence the final third.’

Williams partnered Tom McIntyre in Pompey’s defence for the 3-0 defeat to West Brom last weekend.

Meanwhile, the positional switch has allowed Zak Swanson a run in the side at right-back after his return to the club.

Mousinho added: ‘Jordan was really good when he came in against Middlesbrough in really, really tough conditions, while the performance levels across the board for us dropped off slightly against Sunderland.

‘But he has been really solid when he has come in and played and we’re grateful to have had a player with that experience to do a job and just get on with it.’