Portsmouth boss to audition surprise new central midfield candidate as he weighs up Plan B

Zak Swanson is to be handed a training ground audition as Pompey weigh up a new central midfield role.

John Mousinho is confident the fit-again right-back possesses the perfect attributes to switch in the middle of the park.

Myles Peart-Harris featured there on Saturday, with mixed results, while Tom Lowery and Ben Stevenson are still injured and new signing Lee Evans not yet ready to be considered.

An alternative put forward by the Blues’ head coach is Swanson, who was previously a midfielder in Arsenal’s Academy before converted to a full-back.

But firstly, Mousinho wants to gauge how the 23-year-old performs in the role on the training pitch.

He told The News: ‘There have been a couple of games this year where Zak has started as a right-back and moved into the middle of the park when we were in possession, so I think he is more than capable of doing that.

‘He’s really, really comfortable on the ball and it would be something we’d probably look to explore over the next couple of weeks, just seeing in training if that looks like something which works - and I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t.

‘That’s the way we would operate. We would never chuck him into the deep end, everything we do in training is to try to mirror what we’re doing in games. That would be something we would work on and see if it’s an option.

‘Technically he is right up there and can certainly handle the ball in the middle of the park. If we just give him a bit of tactical detail around what it takes to play as a six rather than a full-back, then I think he can definitely do it.

‘His first touch is tight, he can see a good pass, I can see him turning on both feet, which is a really good attribute as well.

‘The most important thing is the ability to go in and get the ball, wanting the ball off the centre-backs and full-backs. That’s what we want from our sixes to control games.

‘We know he has athleticism as well and, when we really get it out of him, Zak has a good level of aggression. They are factors we want players to provide in the middle of the park.’

Swanson underwent surgery for a groin injury in December, yet partly returned to training last Thursday.

Now Pompey are hoping to step up his rehabilitation as Mousinho eyes the youngster’s first-team return.

He added: ‘Zak was involved in the early parts of the season on Thursday and we are hoping for him to have a full session this week.

‘Maybe we will then see him possibly pushing for selection the week after that.’