The club is only going in one direction – Bishop
Portsmouth striker Colby Bishop is already looking forward to another year in the Championship and says they will be a “very strong team” next season.
After winning just one of their opening 14 games and sitting five points adrift of safety at the bottom of the table, Pompey picked up 45 points in the next 32 matches to finish 16th.
John Mousinho’s side were on a 64-point pace from 9 November onwards, which would have seen them finish in the top 10 if they had carried that form through the whole season.
It was a run that coincided with Bishop’s return to the side following heart surgery.
“Obviously, I missed quite a big chunk of it and didn’t come back in the greatest place, so if you’d told me then that we’d finish 16th, then I’d have snapped your hand off,” Bishop told BBC Radio Solent.
“It’s down to the lads and the staff who worked really hard and reaped the rewards.”
Bishop ended the season as Portsmouth’s league top goalscorer for a third consecutive campaign with 11 goals in 32 appearances.
“After missing a big chunk, I didn’t know what was going to happen or how many you’re going to get,” he said.
“But I’m happy to get top goalscorer – three seasons as top goalscorer.”
The 28-year-old, who extended his contract at Fratton Park in February until June 2028, believes Pompey can improve on their league position next season.
“Last year was a rocky start, so I’m looking forward to having a fresh start, coming back fit and seeing where this team can take it,” Bishop added.
“If we have a fully fit team next year with some of the lads we’ve got and a couple more signings, I think we’ll be a very strong team.
“I think the club has moved forward so much since I first came here, and behind the scenes, they’re still trying to make it so much better, so I think it’s only going to go in one direction.”
Listen to Colby Bishop’s full interview on BBC Sounds.
Colby Bishop makes goalscoring return as Portsmouth move off bottom
Colby Bishop returned from heart surgery to secure Portsmouth’s first home win of the season as they beat Preston 3-1.
Pompey’s leading goalscorer in their League One title-winning season, Bishop had missed the opening 14 matches as he recovered from his summer health scare after a heart scan revealed a risk.
He came on in the 78th minute, with Pompey 2-1 up after a piledriver from Jacob Murphy and a Connor Ogilvie tap-in, and 12 minutes later converted from the spot to secure the points.
The hosts showed their threat from set-pieces in the 17th minute when Freddie Potts’ wicked delivery was diverted towards goal by Marlon Pack but well saved by Freddie Woodman.
Potts blazed over after a quick transition as Pompey’s influence, and crowd noise, built until they led in the 36th minute.
Woodman punched Matt Ritchie’s corner seemingly away from danger but Murphy controlled and leathered a stinging low shot from 30 yards into the bottom left corner. It was a second goal of the week for former Oxford winger after opening his Pompey account at Hull last weekend.
Andre Dozzell went close twice in quick succession as a shot into the ground bounced over Woodman but wide, before an effort from the edge of the area deflected just past the post.
Another corner doubled the hosts’ lead on the cusp of half-time. Potts swung in towards the goalmouth, Woodman flapped and Ogilvie stabbed in at the back post.
The only nervy moment of a dominant first half for Pompey had been in the 23rd minute when Emil Riis went down in the box under a challenge from keeper Nicolas Schmid but referee John Busby waved away the North End protests.
It was little surprise when Paul Heckingbottom made a triple substitution at half-time. And one of those introductions, Ryan Ledson, produced a stunning outside-of-the-boot through-ball to set up Riis to score just five minutes into the second half. It was Preston’s first shot of the match.
Pompey reacted with Ritchie powering a header at Woodman, before Jack Whatmough’s header bounced off Kusini Yengi and forced Schmid into a stunning low save.
Bishop’s introduction – a surprise having not been named in Pompey’s initial 25-man squad for the first half of the Championship season – was celebrated more wildly than either of the earlier goals, and Portsmouth ended a seven-match winless run at home after Callum Lang was felled in the box.
Only one man was ever going to take the penalty, and Bishop dispatched with aplomb to lift Pompey off the foot of the Championship.
He was also afford his own fist pumps after the final whistle as Preston’s wait for an away win stretches past 239 days.
