Meet the man who could well have saved Portsmouth striker Colby Bishop’s life

And the Blues chief executive has credited the club’s head of medical, Steve Hard, with taking the steps to bring in tests which identified a potential risk to the Magic Man and led to him undergoing open-heart surgery.

Bishop made his incredible goalscoring return to the first-team picture in the 3-1 victory over Preston, despite going under the knife just three months ago.

The 28-year-old was allowed to be registered to Pompey’s 25-man squad, with Hard working closely with cardiologists to ensure the club’s top scorer for the past two seasons was ready to return.

Cullen is clear in his conviction the screening brought in by the man who arrived at Fratton Park 16 months ago, quite possibly saved Bishop.

Cullen said: ‘A player like Colby will want to come back as quickly as he can, but we had to take the responsibility away from him and the coaches too.

‘So Steve Hard worked closely with the cardiologists who were comfortable with Colby’s return to play - so it was an independent certification.

‘That was incredibly important to make sure that happened.

‘If we had registered Colby and a cardiologist then registered a concern, we wouldn’t have been able to take him off the squad list.

‘It all worked out extremely well and we’re grateful to the EFL and extremely grateful for the care Colby has received throughout.

‘Steve Hard has introduced the discipline of regular cardiac checks on all our players, which we’ve brought into the women’s team as well so we can identify these conditions.

‘While we were devastated and Colby was devastated to receive the news, the fact it was identified may have made a significant difference to his life.

‘Colby has referenced the fact if he was in a different profession it may not have been picked up, so it’s really important.

‘Colby has been utterly determined and a consummate professional to ensure he was in the best place possible to come back, with the support network of his family and the players.

‘He’s been totally focussed on making this return as quickly as he could - and much quicker than anyone thought.’

Pompey sought dispensation for Bishop to be added to their squad two months ago, with the green light for the £500,000 signing’s comeback given ahead of the Preston game.

Club secretary Ali Knell set the wheels in motion on that process, with Cullen appreciative of the EFL viewing Pompey’s application favourably.

He added: ‘The way the squad list works is different from League One And League Two.

‘You’re allowed 25 players over the age of 21 and have to include loan players under the age of 21. Unlike League One and League Two, you have to include goalkeepers as well.

‘The situation was we’d reached our cap with three players outside of the squad list in Colby, Tom Lowery and Ben Stevenson.

‘Once the squad list is filed in September after the transfer window closes, you’re not allowed to make any changes until January unless there’s any extenuating circumstances.

‘They were the key words: “extenuating circumstances”. Given we had Ibane Bowat registered and he suffered a long-term injury very, very early on in his time here it was clear he wouldn’t be fit to return until the end of the season.

‘So we made an application to the league on that basis, once we knew Colby was in a really good position to return before January.

‘That was something none of us were certain about, there was no reference point on the condition Colby suffered although there was a couple of other sportsman to speak to. That’s all he had, so he had no idea.

‘So we made the application and cited the circumstances once Colby was ready to come back.

‘Those extenuating circumstances were accepted, so we were grateful to the EFL for taking on board the facts and allowing us to make the change to the squad list.’