Portsmouth boss addresses when Colby Bishop will be ready for first-team start

And he insists forthcoming fixtures against Blackburn (November 23) and Millwall (October 27) are too soon to consider him for his line-up.

Bishop’s 12-minute cameo against Preston yielded a goal and lifted Fratton Park as the Blues headed into the international break with a maiden home victory.

The 28-year-old has continued to train during the international break and he will be in Mousinho’s 20-man squad heading to Ewood Park on Saturday as the Championship calendar resumes.

However, Pompey’s head coach remains wary of handing the prolific striker a starting spot so soon following heart surgery.

Mousinho told The News: ‘We can consider Colby starting from this weekend onwards, there’s no issues in terms of the cardio side of things.

‘The biggest consideration for us is the fact he’s been out for that long. We have to take it into consideration from a physical standpoint, like it would be with any other lower limb injury.

‘He spent time in a hospital bed, he spent time at home where he couldn’t properly walk, he couldn’t properly run. He was immobilised after such a major surgery, it has a huge impact on the body, even though it’s not knee or hip surgery. We have to take it into account.

‘Having built up that 12 minutes against Preston, then with a good block of two weeks training since, maybe this weekend and the Millwall game comes too soon. But I don’t think we are too far off considering him for a full start.

‘We consider ourselves to have five really good centre-forwards in the building - Colby, Kusini Yengi, Mark O’Mahony, Elias Sorensen and Christian Saydee. All of them at some point this season apart from Colby have started a game as a number nine for us.

‘We have strength in depth in that department, so we don’t need to rush Colby back. We want to play him when the time is right. Physically if it’s right for him, we’ll do it.’

Yengi (Australia) and O’Mahony (Republic of Ireland Under-21s) are back with the Blues having scored for their respective countries during the international break.

And they will again be vying with Bishop for pitch time - starting with Saturday’s trip to Blackburn.

Mousinho added: ‘It would be slightly different coming back from a 2-3 week injury, but I am sure Colby is pretty keen to start right now.

‘He’s not knocked on my door and said he’s ready to start, but I know he is, so he doesn't need to do that.’