‘It’s not ideal’: Portsmouth boss’ Colby Bishop admission as concerns voiced over shouldering striker burden going into Coventry City and Watford

But the Blues boss is confident the Magic Man’s playing comeback can be built successfully, as he shoulders the burden of leading his team’s front line in the Championship.

Bishop is five weeks and as many games into playing football again, after undergoing open-heart surgery in the summer.

It’s a return which has been widely celebrated, with the 28-year-old operating at a good level and grabbing two second tier goals to date.

But Bishop being back in action has coincided with both Kusini Yengi and Mark O’Mahony being sidelined until the new year, leaving Christian Saydee and Elias Sorensen as Pompey’s other striking options.

It means the £500,000 man is racking up the minutes, with that scenario likely to remain across the festive period and a frantic January fixture timetable. Mousinho explained there’s an ongoing dialogue with Bishop to manage his load.

He said: ‘It’s not ideal to have Colby back and two centre-forwards injured at the same time.

‘But we’ve got Christian and Eli who’ve come on and shared the workload.

‘We’re just taking a gauge off Colby, really. We’re taking a gauge off him during games and asked him to put his hand up when he’s really flagging - because we need players who can really press at the top end of the pitch.

‘Colby doesn’t look to me like a player who’s been out for three months after open-heart surgery, to be honest.

‘Maybe there’s been some moments, but otherwise he’s been back and getting close to his best.’

Mousinho has spoken about the difficulties defender Regan Poole had coming off the back of a 10-month lay-off following knee surgery last November.

It would be natural to expect Bishop to have a similar dip in form as he builds his return, but the Pompey boss doesn’t think that will be the case - and has detailed his reasons why.

Mousinho added: ‘It’s slightly different (with Colby). I’ve spoken a lot about Regan and his recovery from an ACL injury.

‘I’d put Colby in a slightly different category because of the nature of the issue.

‘It was a massive deal having open-heart surgery, but Colby was out so quickly afterwards - much quicker than he would’ve been from a lower limb injury.

‘He had different issues to contend with on his return.

‘There was the size of the scar down his chest and all the work which had been done. That was the area he had to build back up.

‘His fitness in his legs he kept up on top of so well in his time out, so it was a big different to having an ACL, broken leg or other ligament injury.

‘I do think Colby’s in a slightly different category.’