'I've only been a defender for three years - and I'm loving playing there for Portsmouth': Ex-Bristol City man on positional change which transformed his career

And Ryley Towler continues to revel in the positional switch which earned him League One opportunity with Pompey.

A central midfielder, the highly-regarded Towler progressed through Bristol City’s Academy, with loan spells at Frome Town and Taunton Town aiding his development.

Then, at the age of 17, he was handed a fresh role which the former Grimsby loanee credits with helping him to blossom.

Since then, Towler has appeared in the Championship, enjoyed regular League Two football with AFC Wimbledon and, in January, was bought by Pompey.

Life as a central defender clearly suits the 20-year-old.

He told The News: ‘I remember playing for both Frome and Taunton on loan, I must have been 16-17 then, I really enjoyed those spells.

‘When you’re that young, you learn a lot from playing with men. It was the physical side, I was a little kid coming up against 30-year-old men, it's tough.

‘Mind you, when I went there I played in the centre of midfield. It was still tough, don’t get me wrong, but I didn’t have these big strikers trying to elbow me and all that kind of stuff!

‘I was always a central midfielder, sitting in front of the back four, helping them out, keeping it locked up. I never really got too high up the pitch because it gave me a nosebleed!

‘Then I got tall, I had a growth spurt, shot up by about four inches in a short amount of time and got to 6ft 4in and was dropped back. I must have been about 17.

‘Around that time, I always found myself playing centre-half in training, nobody told me to, I naturally went deeper. Then I started to play some games in that position for the under-18s and under-23s and did okay.

‘Since then I’ve been learning to be a centre-half and am still picking up bits now, but I’m much more suited to that position.

‘I love playing there, I love defending, I love heading, then there’s obviously the other side of the game where you’ve got to play, step out and also start attacks.

‘I like defending, blocking, I’ve never been involved in the shooting drills, I’m always in the defending drills, it’s one of my strengths. I just love defending.’

Towler has made 17 appearances since his arrival from Bristol City for an undisclosed fee, while weighing in with two goals.

In the last two matches, Di’Shon Bernard and Clark Robertson have been preferred as the left-sided partner for Sean Raggett in the centre of defence.

Nonetheless, he continues to make excellent strides, albeit aided by that midfield background.

Towler added: ‘My background has definitely helped me on the ball, that’s one of my stronger attributes.

‘I see passes, I like to step out and hit diags now and again, or give the more creative players the ball to create something.

‘It has been a good positional switch, I think.’