Portsmouth manager, John Mousinho has admitted that Colby Bishop didn’t train ahead of the Derby County match due to illness.
The unbeaten streak appeared to be ending as James Collins converted an 86th minute penalty to make it 1-0.
Five minutes into added time Bishop snuck in ahead of Joe Wildsmith to snatch a point at the death.
Despite not training due to a stomach bug, the striker managed to complete the full game and grab an all important goal.
He did go down late on but this was due to cramp opposed to any other reason.
What has John Mousinho said about Colby Bishop?
It was clear that Mousinho felt like keeping his illness quiet would be beneficial for all parties in the run up to the game.
Pulling up with cramp was a likely result after not training.
Discussing Bishop’s exploits, he said: “Colby was absolutely dead on his feet.
“We managed to keep it fairly quiet, but Colby hasn’t been training.”
There was no sign that this was the case until late in the game: “He went down with cramp and you don’t often see Colby go down with cramp, so I think that was a tell-tale sign.”
Despite not training, Mousinho was pleased with Bishop: “He was immense again and should be fine now, though.”
Bishop appeared to be targeted throughout the game by the Derby players.
This was something the Pompey boss picked up on: “He got mauled all game and, to be honest, I don’t know what we can do about it.
“There were some bizarre things going on, particularly in the first half, and that just sums up his treatment.”
Bishop and Portsmouth got the last laugh however and the longest unbeaten streak in English football continues.