John Mousinho explains reasons behind absence of Portsmouth pair Colby Bishop and Gavin Whyte

The pair were missing from Pompey’s squad for Tuesday night’s 3-1 win over Gosport in their first pre-season friendly.

Whyte watched from the Privett Park stands, having still to return to full training through ‘minor niggles’.

He will also not be involved in forthcoming friendlies against the Hawks (Friday) and Bognor (Saturday), although was on the Blues’ Croatian training camp.

While Bishop, who wasn’t present in Croatia last week, is currently unavailable, with his wife due to give birth to their first child.

However, last season’s 21-goal top-scorer has continued to work at Pompey’s training ground.

Mousinho told The News: ‘Colby didn’t come out to Croatia with us, his wife was expecting their first child and, having not trained fully for the week, we didn’t think it was smart to come out and risk any injury.

‘Also, his wife is still expecting, she’s not had the baby yet. It’s a tricky week for us, but we don’t want to push anything with Colby. It’s a special time and we want to make sure he’s all right. When he’s ready to go, he’s ready to go.

‘We left a couple of the staff back home so we had enough people there to take care of Colby and Joe Morrell, who is still with us. It’s important we do that.

‘Colby is the consummate professional and, once he has his child, we’ll be in a different position.’

Whyte has endured a tremendously disappointing time at Fratton Park since his July 2023 arrival.

This represents a key season for his Pompey career, yet so far he’s been unable to get up and running during pre-season.

Mousinho added: ‘Gavin missed the first couple of days of pre-season and is returning from a couple of niggles, we want to make sure he’s fully fit.

‘He has been out on the grass in the last couple of days and we expect him to train with us at the back end of this week. We’re being cautious with Gavin as he’s missed a bit of football.

‘He had an illness at the back end of last season, so missed the Wigan and Lincoln game. We’re just making sure we take our time with Gav and don’t rush it.

‘He’s just had a couple of minor niggles, different muscular injuries, there has been nothing too major, we’re not really concerned, it’s just making sure he gets back.

‘This weekend is probably a step too far, so we’ll look to involve him the week after.’