'I don't know': Portsmouth boss John Mousinho's frank admission over Zak Swanson role

Zak Swanson has secured another two years at Fratton Park, much to the delight of the Blues faithful.

Yet John Mousinho admits he currently ‘doesn’t know’ where the versatile former Arsenal man fits into his side.

Primarily serving as right-back since his July 2022 arrival under Danny Cowley, Swanson last season also surprisingly shone as a make-shift left-back.

During a lengthy injury absence for Connor Ogilvie, at one stage Swanson started 20 out of Pompey’s 23 fixtures in the new role - before his own season was curtailed early.

The 25-year-old is expected to miss the start of the forthcoming campaign following knee surgery in April - but Mousinho has yet to identify which full-back position suits him more.

‘At the minute we would have him on both sides’

He told The News: ‘I think, first and foremost, we will have Zak competing for that right-back spot.

‘He has shown a huge amount of versatility with being able to switch over to the left side as well and played very, very well at left-back, producing some very, very good performances.

‘At the minute we would have him on both sides, the ability to play both sides is quite rare, there’s not many full-backs who can do that - but at the moment I don’t know.

‘Connor (Ogilvie) had a few injuries last year, he is a very different type of left-back to how Zak ended up slotting in there.

‘At the minute, we haven’t got anybody earmarked for starting positions anywhere. We’ve got everybody coming back and competing at the start of pre-season, making sure they are fully at it to try to win a spot.’

Pompey braced for Terry Devlin interest

Certainly there could be a right-back spot up for grabs should Terry Devlin move on this summer.

Pompey expect to receive transfer interest in the Northern Ireland international during the window, with Wrexham the most likely to lead the chase after previously having a £2m bid rejected.

That would open the door for Swanson upon his return from injury, while the future of another right-back rival, Jordan Williams, remains uncertain.

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Mousinho is also looking to strengthen the left-back area this summer, having decided to move on from Jacob Farrell, making the Australian available for transfer.

The Blues want to recruit competition for Ogilvie, who also pledged his Fratton Park future during the close season after signing a new two-year deal.

Regardless, Mousinho doesn’t anticipate Swanson being available until September as he continues rehabilitation from the knee surgery which saw him miss the final eight games of last term.

As a consequence, he isn’t expected to feature in any of Pompey’s six pre-season friendlies, which kick off at Woking on Tuesday, July 14.

However, the defender has travelled with Mousinho’s squad for their week-long training camp in the Republic of Ireland, which began on Sunday.

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