Portsmouth FC surprise gives John Mousinho huge boost ahead of Blackburn Rovers | OneFootball

Colby Bishop's return to first-team action will give Pompey a massive shot in the arm ahead of the trip to Ewood Park

Colby Bishop’s return to the Portsmouth setup last weekend was one of the feel good stories of the Football League season, and his early return will be a massive boost to John Mousinho going forward.

The 28-year-old made his first appearance of the season against Preston North End on Saturday, and netted a late penalty to earn his side’s first three points at Fratton Park since their return to the second tier.

But just months earlier, the frontman had been ruled out of action after a cardiac screening identified him at being at risk of heart problems, with open-heart surgery required to sort the issue.

After what the former Accrington Stanley man described as a ‘horrific’ time of his life, he is back to full fitness and raring to go after the international break, which will be music to the ears of everyone within the game.

Colby Bishop’s journey to return to playing football for Portsmouth

It has become par for the course these days that players go in for screening and testing during the summer, and Bishop would have thought it was a procedure like any other when he got his own assessment done earlier in the year.

But there were no routine results that came back, with the issue leaving him requiring surgery, and leaving his career hanging in the balance.

But just months later, Pompey worked with the forward - who netted 21 league goals en route to League One promotion last season - to get him back to full fitness, and ready to hit the ground running upon is return to first-team football.

Having been left out of the playing squad at the start of the campaign, Bishop was given special dispensation from the EFL to rejoin the ranks at Fratton Park, leading to his surprise inclusion in the squad on Saturday.

There was barely a dry eye in the house as the former schoolteacher tucked away his effort from 12-yards in the closing stages, with everyone at the club knowing just how much it meant to the player, as well as everyone connected with him.

The attacker summed it up himself when taking to BBC Radio Solent post-match: "It’s been a really tough couple of months and I’m really grateful to be back playing.

"I found out over the last few days before the game that I could get back into the squad, to say I was over the moon was an understatement.

"Through the whole three months all I’ve through about is getting back to Fratton Park and scoring a goal, I thought it would take a bit longer but I’m delighted it’s come so soon.

"I was trying not to well up in the changing room with all the nice things they were saying to me, the team and the staff have been so great with me."

Having been such a massive part of the south coast side’s title-winning side from the previous campaign, the return of Bishop to the starting lineup will be huge for a side who currently find themselves in the bottom three of the division, and after being so close to having to hang up his boots, the striker will be looking to make the most of his return to the game in the months to come.

Portsmouth will have major Colby Bishop boost ahead of Blackburn Rovers encounter

Having played his part in wrapping up the three points against Preston on Saturday, the wind will be in both Bishop’s and Portsmouth’s sails upon the return from the international break, with an eagerness to keep the momentum going after this weekend’s hiatus.

With their returning striker soon able to start leading the line, haranguing defenders and finding the back of the net like he did in his first two seasons with the club, the early return to action could play a major part in any survival bid that emerges in the following months.

With 42 goals from 91 league matches since his move to Fratton Park, Bishop has been the man to make Pompey tick in an attacking sense of late, with his knack for sniffing out goals in the penalty area making him such a threat going forward.

In Blackburn Rovers, they face a team that has struggled for consistency since the early stages of the season, with a 3-1 victory at Cardiff City last time out their first win in five league matches.

After finding the back of the net with ease at the start of the campaign, the goals have dried up from John Eustace’s side of late, with just one goal in their last four outings at Ewood Park.

Bishop will be locking his lips at the chance of causing havoc in the Championship, with this being his first time playing in the division, having worked his way back up through the pyramid after being released by Notts County as a 19-year-old.

While Kusini Yengi and Mark O’Mahony have played their part at the start of the campaign, everyone knows it is Bishop who is the main man at Fratton Park when it comes to putting the ball in the back of the net, and after working so hard to return to the pitch, he will be more than eager to make his mark next weekend and beyond.