Portsmouth boss explains what makes Colby Bishop so special after 'brilliant' striker scores perfect hat-trick against Norwich
John Mousinho has heaped praise on Colby Bishop after the Pompey striker scored a perfect hat-trick in the Blues’ 5-3 demolition of Norwich at Carrow Road on Friday.
His three-goal salvo - scored via his right foot, left foot and head - was the first of his professional career and helped the Fratton Park side take a huge step towards guaranteeing their Championship safety.
It also arrived during a season that kicked off with the 28-year-old requiring heart surgery and the front man subsequently missing the first three months of Pompey’s first campaign back in the second tier for more than a decade.
The former Accrington man - who was without a goal in four games heading into the Norwich game - now leads the Blues’ goalscoring charts with 10, alongside Callum Lang, with three games left to play.
And after playing such a pivotal role in Pompey’s huge showing at Carrow Road - less than a week after missing a crucial penalty in last Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Derby County - Mousinho said the striker was worthy of the plaudits that will inevitably come his way post-match.
Speaking to BBC Radio Solent at the final whistle, the Blues boss said: ‘It's brilliant. I think, coming off the back of last week and Colby missing the penalty. He would have been massively disappointed and (with) not a huge amount of goals recently.
‘The big thing with Colby that we know is that if Colby doesn't score a single goal, we know how effectively he's going to be leading the line and he was exactly that again today.
‘He's such a good finisher, such a good centre-forward and thoroughly deserves it.
‘I think what probably sums Colby up and it’s a decent reflection of where the side is at the minute is the fact that he picked the ball up to take the penalty and put it in the back of the net and I think that took a lot of bravery to do that, having missed last week’
Pompey’s Colby Bishop nets perfect hat-trick
Bishop put Pompey ahead in Norfolk thanks to a 15th-minute header. He then added his second from the spot in first-half stoppage-time, after Matt Ritchie cancelled out Josh Sargent’s equaliser for the hosts.
His third, from his left boot, came in the 51st minute as the visitors sensationally opened up a 4-1 lead.
Regan Poole wrapped up the scoring for Pompey in the 71st minute - a goal that was sandwiched between Jack Stacey (64) and Emiliano Marcondes (90) efforts from the deflated Canaries.
The win leaves Pompey 18th in the table on 49 points - six clear of third-from-bottom Luton, who secured a 1-0 win against Derby at Pride Park.
The Blues are next in action on Monday, when Watford travel to Fratton Park. It’s unclear, though, whether Bishop will be fit for the game after he was replaced in the 75th minute by Kusini Yengi with what appeared to be a slight knock.