Portsmouth boss springs huge selection surprises for Championship opener at Oxford United
Colby Bishop starts for the Blues’ Championship opener at the Kassam Stadium
Colby Bishop is a surprise presence in Pompey’s first starting XI of the 2025-26 Championship season.
However, Josh Murphy and Marlon Pack haven't been included in the 20-man match-day squad for the trip to Oxford United.
Head coach John Mousinho had claimed in the build up that Bishop was sidelined for 2-3 weeks, having collected a groin problem in training.
However, the striker is not only named in the Blues’ starting line-up, but has also been handed the captaincy in place of Pack.
Elsewhere in the squad, summer signings John Swift, Florian Bianchini and Adrian Segecic both get their debuts, while Spurs loanee Minhyeok Yang is named among the substitutes along with Mark Kosznovszky and Luke Le Roux.
Hayden Matthews, Zak Swanson and Ibane Bowat are the defenders on the bench, although there is no place for Jacob Farrell.
Pompey: Schmid, Williams, Poole, Shaughnessy, Ogilvie, Dozzell, Swift, Lang, Segecic, Bianchini, Bishop.
Subs: Killip, Swanson, Kosznovszky, Yang, Devlin, Matthews, Bowat, Le Roux, Waddingham.