Portsmouth boss on the 12-day journey which has seen ex-Arsenal starlet transformed

And Danny Cowley is convinced the flourishing Zak Swanson is already a better player.

Pompey’s boss finally turned to the ex-Arsenal youngster at Forest Green Rovers to resolve his problematic right-back spot in the injury absence of Joe Rafferty.

He has subsequently started the Blues’ last three league fixtures, grabbing a maiden senior goal in last weekend’s draw with Shrewsbury.

And Cowley is adamant Swanson has improved ‘100 per cent’ as a consequence of his recent first-team experiences.

He told The News: ‘Zak’s a better player today than he was 12 days ago, 100 per cent.

‘It’s what they need. It’s really hard to develop players while trying to win, but we had no choice and that’s great, this is how careers start.

‘Zak has just announced himself to the world of football, so good on him.

‘He’s a young player getting game experience, game understanding, all of those bits, and it’s really encouraging, sometimes this happens.

‘As we saw against Shrewsbury, he is also technically a good finisher, Zak scores a lot in training, he can play off either foot.

‘It was a really good goal. We noticed they (Shrewsbury) have a four-man zone and mark four players, so we knew if we took four of our players into their six-yard box, we could occupy eight of theirs.

‘That left space around the edge, which we were trying to expose.’

With Rafferty suffering a set-back in his recovery from injury, requiring another operation, Swanson will remain in the first-team for a while longer.

The alternative is Kieron Freeman, who replaced Swanson in the 83rd minute against Shrewsbury for his first league outing since February.

It represented the 30-year-old’s fifth outing of the season as he looks to force his way back into the first-team on a more regular basis.

Cowley added: ‘Kieron is ready, he has done really well in the Papa John’s Trophy games when he’s played.

‘He’s a super footballer and we always keep the relationship, so the options are always open. That’s always how we work.’