Portsmouth boss 'hopeful' - but time rapidly running out for ex-Arsenal youngster as injury woes continue

John Mousinho is ‘hopeful’ Zak Swanson will play again this season – but time is running out.
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And Pompey’s head coach concedes it won’t be until the summer before the right-back can regain his fitness levels after being sidelined since January with a hernia problem.

Swanson’s last appearance was in a 2-1 defeat at Peterborough in Mousinho’s third match in charge.

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Since then he has been ruled out by a lingering hernia injury which has baffled the Blues.

The latest prognosis is another four months unavailable – and, with the League One season finishing on May 7 against Wycombe, time is short.

Mousinho told The News: ‘Hopefully we are looking at about four weeks now following his hernia injury.

‘Zak is back at it, following his rehab, and hopefully we’ll see him before the end of the season.

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Fitness first and foremost, he has to get his fitness back, he has been out for quite a long time now, that Peterborough game was at the back end of January.

John Mousinho is 'hopeful' Zak Swanson will return from injury this season. Picture: Jason Brown/ProSportsImagesJohn Mousinho is 'hopeful' Zak Swanson will return from injury this season. Picture: Jason Brown/ProSportsImages
John Mousinho is 'hopeful' Zak Swanson will return from injury this season. Picture: Jason Brown/ProSportsImages

‘So he’s got a real task on his hands in terms of making sure he comes back to football fitness first of all, but thankfully he has a bit of time this summer to do that and hit the ground running in pre-season and then keep performing as he was.

‘Certainly he did that in my first three games here, although there’s plenty he needs to improve on as well, he’s a young player, he needs to learn and there's plenty of ambition there.

‘There's still a huge amount we can hopefully get out of Zak and he can be a real threat come the start of next season.’

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Since Swanson’s injury Joe Rafferty has returned to the side following his own injury issues, while Di’Shon Bernard has also served there.

Certainly the Blues haven’t suffered in the 22-year-old’s absence, with right-back competition still fierce.

Mousinho added: ‘We need that competition all over the pitch and, looking around the two full-back areas, we have had that in my entire time here.

‘At right-back we had Zak at first, then Joe Rafferty coming in, while Di’Shon Bernard has probably been a bit unlucky to not be back in the side after a couple of good performances.’