Portsmouth new boy reveals position over being ready for Oxford United as West Brom arrival plays fitness catch-up

John Swift believes he’s ready to hit the ground running in the Championship.

The Pompey new boy banked his latest pre-season minutes in the final pre-season warm-up win over Dutch side PEC Zwolle today.

Swift played 70 minutes of the 1-0 success at Fratton Park, in what was his fourth game since arriving after leaving West Brom this summer.

The 30-year-old played 31 minutes of the behind-closed-doors win over Crawley and then came on at half-time at former club Reading last week.

Swift put another hour into his legs in the 4-0 win over Brighton under-21s on Wednesday, before operating at the base of midfield this afternoon.

After spending time as part of one of the Professional Footballers’ Association’s pre-season training camps before joining Pompey, Swift feels he’s now in a good place going into the new campaign.

He said: ‘I think I’m just about there, this game was a definitely the final step for me.

‘Maybe a 90 minutes before the start of the season would’ve been ideal, but coming into pre-season maybe two weeks late that wasn’t possible.

‘I got 70 minutes and felt good. I felt I could’ve had a little bit longer, but the squad has quite a few midfielders and they need minutes as well.

‘But I feel good fitness-wise and there are no problems.

‘The two weeks with the PFA before I came here was ideal, so i feel in a good place.

Swift got his first taste of playing at Fratton Park as a Pompey player as 8,237 turned out for the PEC Zwolle clash.

It’s a moment the Gosport lad has been waiting for since returning to the club he played for as an academy youngster.

Swift added: ‘I’ve been looking forward to playing here all pre-season.

‘The stadium wasn’t completely packed, but I’m looking forward that when the season starts.

‘But it’s good to be here, a clean sheet and win which we can now take forward into the Oxford game.’