‘The benchmark’: Wycombe boss acknowledges Portsmouth class and makes big Colby Bishop statement

Matt Bloomfield believes Pompey are setting the bar for the level his side want to reach.

And the Chairboys boss feels Colby Bishop is likely the premier striker in the division, as he put his team to the sword.

Bloomfield had no complaints with the outcome, as the Blues ran out 3-1 winners at Adam Park to move another big step towards the Championship.

The Wycombe manager feels the leaders are operating at a level his team want to get to moving forward, while, in two-goal Bishop, Pompey have an 18-goal marksman at the top of the League One tree.

He told the Bucks Free Press: ‘Portsmouth are top of the league for a reason as they are a very good team.

‘They’ve got very good forward players that can hurt you at any moment such as Colby Bishop.

‘You’d do better to try and find a better number nine in the league.

‘They’re the benchmark of where we want to get to.’

Despite coming up short in the final reckoning, Wycombe made the game a contest early on as Denmead lad Matt Butcher cancelled out Bishop’s opener.

Bloomfield added: ‘The first half was a really good contest between two good teams, but the third goal in the second half took the wind out of our sales.

‘We’re a side in transition and we’ve made some good strides going forward and we’re not far away from where we want to be.

‘We hit the bar and had a couple of moments where we went close, and if one of them goes in, it’s 2-2 and I would have fancied ourselves to get a result.

‘But their goal took the wind out of our sails a bit.

‘It was a great goal by Butch and after that, I thought we had a few good moments where we looked threatening, but ultimately, we came up short.

‘It was a lovely bit of vision, awareness and composure to leave it at a dead weight so that Butch could finish it off with one touch.

‘Richard has been playing Non League football until Christmas, and he’s done well for us.’