Portsmouth boss addresses Colby Bishop concerns after wasteful Blues spurn chance of Sheffield United victory
Pompey were left ruing their wastefulness in front of goal - but Colby Bishop still has John Mousinho’s backing.
The striker missed two one-on-ones with Sheffield United keeper Michael Cooper and also had a second-half goal correctly ruled out for offside in Saturday’s 2-1 defeat.
However, with Bishop also off target the previous week against Burnley, it amounts to a frustrating time for the ex-Accrington man, who needs one more goal to reach 50 for Pompey.
Nonetheless, Mousinho isn’t panicking over the forward’s worryingly blank spell.
He told The News: ‘Goalscoring hasn’t really been an issue for us this season - on Saturday it was.
‘This year it has been about defensive solidity, particularly away from home. I thought we looked a really, really good outfit in terms of the press and being solid defensively.
‘Colby needs a goal, though. He had the ball in the back of the net, which was ruled out for offside - which seemed fine to me. Those things aren’t quite going for him at the moment.
‘He came very close to scoring in the first half too, but Colby has been through this before at Pompey. He ended up over the last two seasons with 41 league goals, so he’ll be absolutely fine and score a goal really soon and it will be a thing of the past.
‘Look at his overall performance, his confidence is really high. He would have been through this plenty of times in his career, strikers go through these periods when it doesn't necessarily drop for them.
‘They don’t score as many as they used to and it just happens. Colby will have no issue with that.’
Bishop totalled 45 goals in his opening two Fratton Park seasons following his arrival in the summer of 2022.
He has now hit four in 17 games since returning from a heart operation for his first taste of Championship football.
Although he has now gone just four matches without scoring, Bishop’s recent profligacy in good goal-scoring positions is growing concerning.
At least the Blues’ other striking options are about to improve, with Mark O’Mahony almost ready to return to first-team consideration and Kusini Yengi expected to be back from his latest injury this month.
Overall, however, Mousinho is adamant scoring goals has not been an issue this season, with 37 in 31 Championship fixtures so far.
He added: ‘We’ve scored plenty of goals, the biggest issue we’ve had this season is conceding - and reacting poorly to conceding those goals. Particularly away from home.
‘Yes we want to score more, but I just don’t think that’s something we are completely lacking and we have created plenty as well.
‘The more concerning factor is when you don’t create anything.’