Portsmouth boss John Mousinho's emphatic response to calls for Colby Bishop to lose penalty-taking duties

Colby Bishop will remain Pompey’s penalty taker.

That’s the emphatic message delivered by John Mousinho as he backs the popular striker to bounce back from his Norwich disappointment.

Bishop saw his 80th-minute spot-kick saved by Canaries keeper Vladan Kovacevic In a 2-1 defeat at Fratton Park on Saturday.

It represented the former Accrington man’s fourth miss in his last 10 penalties, although his overall Pompey tally is an impressive 18 netted from 23 attempts.

Regardless of Saturday’s frustration, Mousinho is adamant he won’t be relieving his skipper of duties for this weekend’s trip to West Brom.

Portsmouth boss: Colby will remain our penalty taker

The Blues’ head coach told The News: ‘Colby will remain our penalty talker. He has enough credit in the bank and there’s plenty of trust and plenty of confidence I have in him. I know he is going to pick up the next one and hopefully put it into the back of the net.

‘He has scored some big penalties as well, there’s a couple I can think of, real pressure penalties. The one against Barnsley to win the title, the one against Norwich last season after missing the previous one against Derby.

‘Even the penalty against Preston last year on his comeback was a big penalty for us at the time. It was 2-1 and it relieved a lot of pressure in the game when he made it 3-1 because Preston had made a decent comeback just after half-time.

‘Unfortunately, sometimes when you do step up against excellent goalkeepers and sides that do their homework, it can be a difficult place. But I have every faith in Colby to pick up the next one and show the confidence he needs to show.

‘I’m not concerned. We want players to score penalties all the time, but it happens. Players do miss penalties, unfortunately, it’s not as easy as everybody makes out and it’s one of those things.

‘We are more than happy with the place Colby’s in at the minute.’

Callum Lang’s 100-per-cent success rate

When Bishop was absent through a heart issue at the start of last season, Callum Lang enjoyed a 100-per-cent penalty record, scoring twice.

Meanwhile, during the League One title-winning campaign, Kusini Yengi converted all four of his attempts as he totalled 13 goals in 2023-24.

Both obviously weren’t options when Bishop missed against Norwich, with Lang having gone off with a hamstring injury and Yengi now at Aberdeen following his Fratton Park exit in the summer.

Portsmouth boss: I have a lot of respect for anyone who takes a penalty

And Mousinho admires any penalty taker’s willingness to step forward and embrace such responsibility.

He added: ‘It’s never an issue for us with Colby - he is prepared to actually be out there to fail.

‘There are plenty of players I’ve played with and have seen throughout my career that, when the push comes to the shove and there’s a penalty shoot-out, they don’t want to put their hand up and actually face that pressure.

‘That’s no issue, but I have a lot of respect for anyone who does want to take a penalty.’

Your Next Pompey Read: 'Much better': Why Josh Murphy is convinced Pompey are now stronger - and can have a 'special' season