John Mousinho has assured John Swift he remains part of his Pompey plans this season.
The Blues boss believes his decision to include the Gosport lad in his 25-man squad for the first half of the campaign shows he’s still part of his first-team thinking.
Mousinho on Swift: ‘He has a huge part to play, hence we registered him’
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Pompey's John Swift. Pic:Jason Brownplaceholder image
Pompey's John Swift. Pic:Jason Brown | Jason Brown
That’s as Swift once again finds his playing time limited at the outset of the new Championship campaign.
The former Chelsea and West Brom man has high hopes of impacting the first-team picture this term, a position he outlined to The News when speaking ahead of season getting underway.
So far it’s been cameos at West Ham in the Carabao Cup with a late sub outing at Bristol City his only contribution in the Championship so far.
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Mousinho opted to include Swift, 31, in his 25-man squad registered at the transfer window’s close, however, as the Pompey boss deliberated over who would be left in the cold out of those still at the club.
That may have been close call but the midfielder made the with the cut, with the head coach seeing that as evidence the Swift is in his thinking - even if that’s likely not enough to satisfy the vastly experienced Championship talent.
Mousinho said: ‘Swifty is a very, very good player.
‘We’ve been working to try to get the best out of him, which I think we saw in glimpses last year.
‘I still think he has a huge part to play, hence we registered him in the squad.
‘I know he’ll want to play a load more and won’t be happy, but I hope John sees that.
‘Just having a spot on the squad list isn’t going to satisfy him, but I hope he sees that as a positive statement of intent.
‘I think there’s been some really positive signs from Swifty over the past few weeks.’
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Mousinho was undoubtedly most effective last season when used in the no10 position he feels is where he’s best suited, helping Pompey to big back-to-back away wins at Millwall and Charlton in February.
He was also used in a deeper midfield position, where he acknowledged he made errors as he tried to force his influence on games.
Mousinho now sees the classy operator vying for minutes further up the pitch.
He added: ‘In probably Swifty’s natural position as a 10, we have Segs there at the minute who was one of the better performers last year, scored 11 goals and has scored a couple at the start of this year.
‘He has that competition there and they are very different players.
‘Then there’s good competition in the eight as well with the likes of Rocco (Shein), Odin (Bailey) and Ebou (Adams) as well.
‘He’s definitely got a part of play in the squad and has a unique set of attributes as well.’