Portsmouth boss details reasons behind ex-Arsenal youngster's first-team absence during ongoing right-back problems

Pompey will turn to Zak Swanson for right-back duty in the Papa John’s Trophy.
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And Danny Cowley has explained why the youngster has so far been overlooked for League One duty, despite Joe Rafferty’s ongoing absence.

The Blues’ head coach has preferred left-footed Connor Ogilvie ahead of specialists Swanson and Kieron Freeman in the role vacated by the injured Rafferty.

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Indeed, the 22-year-old Arsenal graduate has been handed just nine minutes of League One action, representing a Football League debut.

The highly-regarded defender’s other three outings have arrived in cup competitions, while he is expected to line-up against Villa Under-21s tonight (7.45pm)

It’s a summer recruit Cowley regards as a ‘project’ – and Pompey’s boss is adamant the time must be right for Swanson to be blooded in their promotion bid.

He told The News: ‘Villa is a really good game for Zak, we are working hard to try to build his game experience up.

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‘He’s a young player who needs to play 20 games and will be much better. We don’t quite have that time to wait, which is a challenge for us because he has a lot of potential.

Zak Swanson was an unused substitute for Pompey at Ipswich on Saturday. Picture: Jason Brown/ProSportsImagesZak Swanson was an unused substitute for Pompey at Ipswich on Saturday. Picture: Jason Brown/ProSportsImages
Zak Swanson was an unused substitute for Pompey at Ipswich on Saturday. Picture: Jason Brown/ProSportsImages

‘As a football club, we are not in the position where we can sign players of that age who can come straight into our first-team, so our aim is to build, develop and improve them.

‘Zak’s improving every day, he has some fantastic qualities, real super strengths to his game, his athleticism, his technical abilities, his tactical understanding.

‘However, he has been at Arsenal since day dot, coming through their Academy, and, as a consequence, had a really good education, but a lot of that has been technical and in possession.

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‘We are now trying to prepare him for League One football, trying to teach him some of the dark arts.

‘You look at Joe Rafferty and Connor Ogilvie, fantastic experienced players to learn from and this is a brilliant step on his journey because he is now playing football with consequences.

‘Sometimes when young players come through our Academies, they play football with no consequence and, as a result, only learn some aspects of the game.

‘Our young players are projects, we see potential in them and we’ll try to work with them, develop and improve them, so one day they’re going to become a Pompey player.’

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Elsewhere in Pompey’s squad, the 21-year-old Josh Griffiths and 18-year-old Dane Scarlett are regulars.

Yet the pair are loanees from West Brom and Spurs respectively and further advanced in their development than Swanson and other Fratton Park youngsters.

Cowley added: ‘A really good way of looking at it is if you assess our 12 young players, the two that aren’t ours – Dane Scarlett and Josh Griffiths - are both playing and the other 10 are playing a supporting role.

‘So our aim, as we keep developing as a football club, is to try to get some of our 21s and under to have a lead role.’