Portsmouth boss fires John Swift playing message amid former West Brom and Chelsea man’s recent struggle for minutes
John Swift was a consistent starter for Pompey after his arrival from West Brom , but it’s now one start in six for the former Chelsea man. John Mousinho discusses his situation, as he finds playing minutes hard to come by at PO4.
John Swift still has a ‘big part’ to play for Pompey going forward this season as he struggles for first-team minutes.
And John Mousinho highlighted the Blues’ hunt for the ‘right formula’ this term, has contributed to the lack of playing time for the Gosport lad of late.
One start in six games for West Brom arrival
Swift hasn’t featured in the past three games for the side he joined from West Brom this summer, with illness keeping him out of the 3-2 loss at Hull City before the international break.
The ensuing outings against Millwall and Sheffield United on Wednesday have seen the 30-year-old named on the bench, but fail to enter the fray on either occasion.
That follows on from the former Chelsea man’s season gaining impetus last month, as he bagged his first Pompey first goal at Leicester amid a series of decent showings.
Mousinho highlighted how he has been searching for the right attacking formula amid his side’s struggles going forward, with that leading to different approaches being employed recently.
There was a move away from the 4-2-3-1 formation broadly employed by the head coach through his Fratton rein, with a switch to a 3-4-2-1 approach used at Hull City and against Wrexham.
Conor Chaplin and Josh Murphy were employed as narrow attacking options behind Colby Bishop on those occasions, before a return to the system Pompey know best harvested victory against Millwall last weekend.
Swift started the season as part of the Blues’ double midfield pivot where he was a consistent presence for seven consecutive games, before dropping to the bench at Ipswich Town
Swift has ‘big part to play’ for Pompey
It remains to be seen how Mousinho now goes against Bristol City after the bleak 3-0 reverse on Wednesday night, but he underlined there’s no issue with Swift after one start in six games.
The Pompey boss sees the free transfer capture as someone who will be important to his side moving forward, with the majority of the season still be played.
Mousinho said: ‘It’s still the same for Swifty, the same as everyone really.
‘He’s still competing for a spot. It’s something we’ve looked to tweak and play around with and we’re just trying to find the right formula.
‘It’s still a small sample size for this season. There’s no issue there, whatsoever.
‘We still think Swifty is a really valuable part of the team and part of the squad.
‘He’s definitely still got a really big part to play for us going forward.’