Sporting director reiterates Portsmouth stance on prized pair ahead of transfer window amid Blackburn and Ipswich links

But Pompey’s sporting director has reiterated he is under no pressure to sell the club’s prized assets.

The summer window opens tomorrow, heralding a pivotal recruitment drive for the Blues as they attempt to become capable of staging a sustained promotion push.

Hughes is under no illusions of the challenges ahead, previously stating 9-10 new faces need to be brought into Fratton Park to drive their ambition.

They will be added to a squad boasting 24-goal Bishop and Wales international Joe Morrell, who both enjoyed impressive 2023-23 campaigns.

With the Blues focused on strengthening, Hughes is adamant they can keep hold of the pair, despite inevitable admiring glances, with Ipswich and Blackburn linked with Bishop.

He told The News: ‘Colby is a mobile, goal-scoring target man and there's not a lot of those, so he will attract interest, absolutely.

‘But I think there's also a correlation between him having his most successful season and being at this football club.

‘We share Colby and Joe’s ambition that they want to play Championship football and hopefully, with those two in particular, we can get to that level and fulfil that need with them.

‘If Colby had scored four goals and not played very well then there wouldn’t be any interest in him, so it's testament to the season he had and how much he has developed that there will be interest in him going forward.

‘We can reject it within reason. With Colby’s contractual situation, it would have to be on our terms and somebody needs to make an incredibly significant offer. I don’t know if Championship clubs have that level of finance.

‘Are there that many clubs which have a significant amount of cash to spend this summer? I don’t know, I don’t know if clubs will sell players and generate income or what that’s going to look like.

‘We don’t need to sell players, it has never been a conversation with the owners here.

‘They are saying to us we have to sell players this summer – and that’s a real positive.’

Morrell is presently away on international duty due to Wales’ involvement with two forthcoming Euro 2024 qualifiers.

They face Armenia on Friday (June 16) and Turkey on June 19 – with Pompey’s pre-season scheduled to start on June 26.

Hughes added: ‘Joe is an international footballer and rightly there will be interest in him, I’m sure.

‘The nice bit and frustrating bit of Joe is how we saw the best and worst of him towards the back end of the season.

‘We saw his talent and how he can really affect games, while starting to add that bit of final third creativity and ability to run past people.

‘Then there was his sending off at MK Dons, which meant he missed some games. That’s something Joe has to iron out.’