John Mousinho has explained the reason behind John Swift’s ongoing absence - and it’s down to yet another Pompey injury.
The former Chelsea man has not been included in the Blues’ last two squads, including Wednesday night’s welcome 3-2 victory over Sheffield United.
John Swift is expected to miss up to six weeks following a knee injury. Picture: Jason Brownplaceholder image
John Swift is expected to miss up to six weeks following a knee injury. Picture: Jason Brown | Jason Brown
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According to Mousinho, the midfielder injured his knee in training last week and is expected to miss up to six weeks as he recovers.
As a consequence, with Tyrese Shade failing a late fitness test, the Blues named two goalkeepers on their bench against the Blades, with Daniel Bielica and Ben Killip included.
In the meantime, Swift, who has featured just twice so far this season, faces a spell on the sidelines as the injury problems continue to mount.
‘We feared the worst initially’
Mousinho told The News: ‘Unfortunately Swifty caught his studs in training on Wednesday last week.
‘It wasn’t a contact injury, he twisted his knee quite badly and we feared the worst initially, but it should be around 4-6 weeks, which is still not great.
John Swift has featured just twice this season - on both occasions as a substitute. Picture: Jason Brownplaceholder image
John Swift has featured just twice this season - on both occasions as a substitute. Picture: Jason Brown | Jason Brown
‘Swifty is one that would have been on the bench on Sunday. We’ll now see him out for a little period, it’s not great, obviously, but we feared the worst at the time.
‘We’ve seen over the years that when there’s no-one near, those injuries don’t look good. So we’re happy with the timeframe.’
Keshi Anderson blow
Shade is expected to be available for Saturday’s trip to Norwich, although Pompey are waiting to learn the full extent of Keshi Anderson’s latest injury.
The ex-Birmingham winger came off the bench against Sheffield United to feature for 19 minutes, before being forced off in the 87th minute with an issue which was unclear straight after the game.
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The Blues are already without Conor Shaughnessy, Benjy Arthur, Josh Murphy, Connor Ogilvie, Thomas Waddingham, Franco Umeh and Mark Kosznovszky.
Swift’s set-back represents another blow for the 31-year-old, who has found first-team opportunities limited so far this season, not featuring since August.
He has totalled just 16 minutes of Championship action to date, consisting of a substitute outing in the defeat at Bristol City.
Swift also came off the bench in the opening day Carabao Cup loss at West Ham, albeit for eight minutes after replacing Colby Bishop.
The Gosport-born midfielder, who joined on a free transfer from West Brom in July 2025, is out of contract at the end of the season.
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