From south-coast derby star to unused sub: Portsmouth boss lifts lid on popular player's surprise absence

From the giddy highs of Southampton brilliance to the abrupt lows of Watford and Middlesbrough, it has been a rapid plummet for Zak Swanson.

Nonetheless, John Mousinho is adamant the 25-year-old’s sudden omission is purely down to a wish to ‘change the profile’ of his right-back rather than injury or form concerns.

Swanson had been tipped by Pompey’s head coach to finally claim the right-back spot for his own in the aftermath of an eye-catching display in the south-coast derby.

Yet two starts later and he appears to have now fallen behind Jordan Williams and Terry Devlin in a well-stocked position which is arguably the strongest in the Blues squad.

Williams, who had been toppled by Swanson having lined-up in the opening two league games this season, surprisingly returned to the starting XI against Watford.

He remained in place for the 1-0 triumph over Boro, with Devlin introduced as a substitute to replace him at right-back in the second half on both occasions.

As for Swanson, he was unused off the bench in each match - just four games after those St Mary’s heights.

Portsmouth boss: It wasn’t a concern over fitness and physicality

Mousinho told The News: ‘Jordan has been really patient, he had been unlucky to lose his place in the side after a couple of decent-enough performances.

‘We just had the option to change the profile of right-back. Zak came in and was part of a couple of really, really good performances, but we thought Watford would suit Jordan and he played really well.

‘To be honest, Zak played pretty well for the most part against Ipswich. Jaden Philogene ended up scoring, but it was on that break where we’d made so many mistakes already, I think it’s a bit unfair to target the right-back for that. He kept him pretty quiet for the rest of the game.

‘There are no injury concerns with Zak, he has shown he is able to play two games in a week, so it wasn’t a concern over fitness and physicality.

‘I just think it’s healthy to not say “Here’s the first-choice right-back”. We’ve got different options there and we can play different players at different times - and I think we have that across the board.

‘We always want players to compete. There might be games where we think it’s going to suit A, B or C because we’ve got three right-backs - and we’ve played Regan in there as well - so we’ll always make that decision based on all things.’

Assisted Minhyeok Yang’s Middlesbrough match winner

Certainly there can be no questioning the performance levels of Williams, following his recent recall.

Indeed, it was from his superb half-volleyed cross from the right byline which created Minhyeok Yang’s first-half winner against Middlesbrough on Saturday.

That contribution - and impressive all-round display - was generously recognised by the Fratton faithful when Williams was replaced by Devlin in the 64th minute.

Mousinho added: ‘Obviously Zak will want to play, but it’s the same story with all those players, he’s just got to be ready when called upon.

‘Things change very, very quickly, we’ve seen that recently where the side we started against Sheffield Wednesday has changed to Ipswich and changed to Watford.

‘Jordan was really good when he returned against Watford, he had a really good impact both defensively and going forward as well. He kept his wing-back very quiet and was really athletic going forward also.’

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