Guy Whittingham shares what Rich Hughes says about Colby Bishop at Portsmouth
Colby Bishop has stepped up to the plate admirably since returning to action for Portsmouth back in November.
Pompey have been recognised for how their record at Fratton Park has saved their Championship place this season, but it can be easy to forget the first win on home turf actually did not arrive until Bishop was back fit.
However, nobody forgets the moment itself, when he returned just 12 weeks after heart surgery to tuck away the penalty which secured a 3-1 win over Preston North End (9 November).
He now leads the way for the Blues with 11 goals in his maiden Championship season – four of them coming in the pivotal Easter weekend which saw John Mousinho’s men take maximum points to ensure their spot in the league for next term.
Bishop rakes in praise from record-breaking Portsmouth striker
Bishop was a huge miss in the opening third of the Championship campaign, when Portsmouth were regular occupants of the relegation zone and struggling for results both at home and away.
So serious was his pre-season heart operation, Pompey elected not to include him in the 25-man EFL squad which would have made him ineligible to return until at least January.
However, ahead of the Preston contest and given how hard Bishop grafted to get back as quickly as possible, the Blues discovered a loophole, and swapped season-long-injured Ibane Bowat for Bishop in the official squad list.
Guy Whittingham is the best individual to ask on how to score goals for Portsmouth at this level – after all, his ludicrous league tally of 42 in 1992-93 was a record which lasted 29 years, until it was beaten by just one more goal from Fulham’s Aleksandar Mitrovic.
Whittingham, speaking with Chris Wise and Andy Moon on BBC Radio Solent (22 April, 06:14), applauded the character Bishop is.
The former Blues frontman and manager also explained that the 28-year-old brings a bespoke ability in the Pompey side to bring his teammates into play, and enable a different dynamic in Mousinho’s attack.
“It shows what sort of character he is when he wasn’t very happy with [Portsmouth] that they didn’t put him in the squad at the start of the season,” Whittingham said.
“Obviously, the club found a way to get him back in, and it’s not only his goals but the way he leads the line with and without the ball. You’ll hear Mousinho, Rich Hughes and Colby’s teammates talk about what he’s like, and you see that in his football.
“The players just rate him, and there’s nobody else at Portsmouth who can combine their teammates like Bishop does.”
Pompey could rest Bishop this weekend
Mousinho’s Portsmouth starting XI for this Saturday at Sheffield Wednesday (26 April) is near-impossible to predict without any prior knowledge.
With Pompey safe and the head coach unwilling to take any risks, the best we can do is to call it that the recently-returned Conor Shaughnessy and Callum Lang will play some part, but not start at Hillsborough.
| Portsmouth – final two | Date |
| Sheffield Wed (A) | 26 April |
| Hull (H) | 3 May |
Jordan Williams and Adil Aouchiche are injured, and Bishop – as well as Josh Murphy – were struggling a touch towards the end of the Easter Monday win over Watford (21 April) which could see them withdrawn to the bench.