Bishop makes the cut in new roles for Colchester

Teddy Bishop joined Colchester from Lincoln City in the summer of 2024

Midfielder Teddy Bishop is hoping to win the trust of more Colchester United players in his part-time role as team barber.

The 29-year-old taught himself how to cut hair by watching videos during the Covid lockdown and already has a couple of 'clients' in the squad.

"I've been cutting Jack Payne's hair for over a year now - I think in that time he's had one haircut from a different barber because I couldn't do it (that time).

"I'm lining up Kane's (Vincent-Young) beard and it's all experience, it's something I may want to go into in the future," Bishop told BBC Essex Sport.

"The lads have let me trial on them and they're very happy with what they're getting, so I think it works all round. It's quite therapeutic.

"I do my dad now, I quite enjoy it. No (they don't pay me) but only because there's a chance I could still mess them up - they take a chance on me while giving me the experience, so I think it's a fair deal at the moment."

Of greater concern to manager Danny Cowley are Bishop's performances on the pitch as they look for a third successive League Two win in Saturday's home game against Harrogate Town.

Bishop has made 12 appearances this season and started the last four of them, but is still adjusting to a slightly different role.

"We're still playing catch-up a little bit because we're not where we want to be (in the table)," he said.

"I've probably played the deepest I've played in my career so far, I'm almost like a defensive midfielder because the gaffer wants me to go and get on the ball and control games.

"That then makes it harder to be on the end of attacks because I'm most likely starting them - I definitely want more goal involvements but if I can help the team by starting the attacks and somebody else gets the credit at the end of it, it doesn't really bother me.

"I'm more involved. Maybe the criticism of me over my career, other than injuries, has been not doing enough in games, so this allows me to be on the ball a lot. It's definitely a different side of me but I've enjoyed the responsibility of making the team tick."

Teddy Bishop was speaking to BBC Essex sports editor Victoria Polley.