Portsmouth boss admits right-back transfer quandary during ex-Arsenal man's absence

John Mousinho is weighing up whether to recruit another right-back - although is confident the Blues can cope if they decide against it.

With Zak Swanson to undergo a groin operation, potentially ruling him out for up to eight weeks, it leaves Joe Rafferty as the sole option in that position.

While Rafferty remains first-choice right-back, the lack of cover during Swanson’s latest absence raises legitimate concerns.

Mousinho believes either Terry Devlin or Conor Shaughnessy can deputise if required, albeit are far from natural replacements.

The alternative would be utilising the January transfer window to recruit somebody else for the role.

The Blues’ head coach told The News: ‘Touch wood, Joe Rafferty remains fit for the rest of the season, but you never know what’s going to happen.

‘We have a couple of options in the building. None of them are straight-forward, none of them are front-line right-backs, but it's another consideration going into the transfer window.

‘It’s just a case of making sure we get the balance right, knowing we already have two excellent right-backs already in the building.

‘It’s possible we could play somebody else there. I certainly think Terry Devlin and Conor Shaughnessy could do a job at right-back, so we look at that as cover, there is plenty of flexibility.

‘Right-back is a position that’s a lot more specialised now than maybe back in the day, but if you are a talented-enough footballer, a central midfielder for example, I think a lot of the qualities convert.

‘That’s exactly what I did as a young central midfielder. I made my debut for Brentford as a right-back, played about 15-16 league games there, before moving back into the centre of the park. So I don’t think it’s inconceivable that a centre-half or central midfielder can cover.

‘Signing a player is also a consideration, it’s just making sure we get the right person in. When we’ve got someone as good as Joe Rafferty in the building already, it’s really difficult to recruit somebody we know is going to play second fiddle.’

Pompey could opt to recruit a centre-half capable of playing right-back.

It’s another reason why the Blues miss Regan Poole, who has been sidelined since November after damaging his ACL in November.

Mousinho added: ‘That is probably where Regan’s injury has hurt us slightly as well, he always had the capability of playing as a right-back.

‘I remember when we were without Zak for a period earlier in the season, it never really worried me too much because we had the capability of moving Regan out to right-back.

‘Then when we were without Joe through suspension after Stevenage, there was a point where Zak went down injured at Derby.

‘It turned out to be fine, but our substitution at that point was to bring Ryley (Towler) on and move Regan out to right-back. There are centre-halves that can do that.’