Danny Cowley has revealed that Zak Swanson is set to feature for Portsmouth tonight in their clash with Aston Villa's Under-21 side in the EFL Trophy.
The defender would have been hoping to play regularly for Pompey during the opening stages of the 2022/23 campaign after sealing a move to Fratton Park in the summer transfer window.
However, Swanson has only made one league appearance for Portsmouth due to the competition for places in his particular position.
Joe Rafferty featured in the right-back role in seven consecutive games at this level before suffering an injury setback.
In the absence of Rafferty, Connor Ogilvie has been deployed in this position by Cowley in Portsmouth's last three League One matches.
Set to face Villa's youth side tonight, Portsmouth will be eliminated from this competition if they suffer a defeat at Fratton Park.
Ahead of this game, Cowley has addressed Swanson's current situation at Portsmouth.
Speaking to The News about the 22-year-old, the Pompey boss said: "Villa is a really good game for Zak, we are working hard to try to build his game experience up.
"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.
"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.
"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."
The Verdict
When you consider that Swanson
failed to make a senior appearance for Arsenal before leaving the club earlier this year, it was always going to take time for him to adapt to life at Portsmouth.
By giving Swanson opportunities to showcase his ability in cup competitions, Cowley will be able to build up the defender's confidence heading into the second half of the campaign.
Providing that the right-back improves as a player over the coming months, there is no reason why he cannot go on to challenge for a place in Portsmouth's starting eleven on a regular basis.
Swanson's presence may also force the likes of Ogilvie and Rafferty to step up their performance levels which in turn could have a positive impact on Pompey's fortunes in League One.
