'Just a whack' - Colby Bishop injury update as Portsmouth goalscorer substituted against West Brom
Goalscorer Colby Bishop hobbled off in the second half against WBA - not long after opening his account for the season at the Hawthorns
John Mousinho has played down any fresh injury concerns regarding Colby Bishop.
The Pompey striker, who scored the Blues’ equaliser in their 1-1 draw at West Brom on Saturday, was withdrawn from the action at the Hawthorns on 76 minutes.
The 28-year-old was replaced by Terry Devlin as the visitors looked to secure a deserved point on the road, with the frontman spotting leaving the pitch holding his back and looking in a bit of discomfort.
At the start of the season there were fears that Bishop would miss the opening weeks of the campaign as he struggled with a groin problem pikced up in the latter stages of pre-season.
Those concerns quickly evaporated as the former Accrington man miraculously started the season-opener against Oxford United and was made captain in Marlon Pack’s absence because of injury.
Now Mousinho has acted swiftly to minimise any fears that might have materialised following today’s visit to the Hawthorns.
Indeed, the Blues boss said Bishop suffered a ‘whack’ in the first half and was withdrawn early to avoid further damage to the affected area - even though his top scorer from last season wanted to continue.
Colby Bishop withdrawna v WBA afer suffering ‘whack’
Speaking at full-time to BBC Solent Mousinho said: ‘I think it was a whack to his glute or a whack to his back, so he was really struggling with that at half-time.
‘It was just one of those that we didn't want to (take a risk with).
‘Actually, I don't think it was a risk, I think it was just a whack, but he couldn't properly run any more.
‘He obviously said: “I'm keen to continue”. But yeah, at that point I thought, we've got the subs on the bench and we can get the boys in to see how they get on.’
John Mousinho praise for Colby Bishop
Bishop’s 56th-minute equaliser saw him open his goalscoring account for the season.
It also came a week after the striker missed a penalty in the Blues’ 2-1 defeat to Norwich City at Fratton Park.
In the aftermath of that costly miss, the frontman earned the backing of his manager to keep his position as the team’s chief penalty-taker.
And after scoring a brilliant header from an equally-brilliant cross from team-mate Josh Murphy, Bishop earned further praise from Mousinho.
He added: ‘(The goal) was brilliant. That's one thing we've got in terms of that strength with Murph on the left-hand side.
‘We know if we deliver the ball into Colby, he's shown that he can mix it at this level. Mixing it is probably far too underwhelming for that - he's more than good enough at this level.
‘He's got the goal, he's coming up against two very, very good centre-halves, he's managed to get across his man and it was a brilliant finish. So, really pleased with that, and like I said, even more pleased with our reaction to the equaliser.
‘Colby was obviously disappointed last week, but he's come back in this week, he's got over it and he's got a big goal for us today.’