Portsmouth

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Portsmouth boss John Mousinho says it is too early for Colby Bishop to complete a full 90 minutes.

Bishop came off the bench to convert a penalty in Pompey's 3-1 win over Preston North End on 9 November and mark his first-team comeback after undergoing heart surgery in the summer.

Bishop had been named in Mousinho's line-up for Wednesday's visit of Millwall but was denied a first start since April after a power outage caused the match to be called off.

The postponement was the second in a row for the club after weather disrupted last weekend's intended fixture at Blackburn Rovers.

Pompey travel to Swansea City on Saturday with the likelihood that Bishop will be named in the XI again, but Mousinho has made it clear that he doesn't think the time is right for the 28-year-old to feature for an entire match.

"I don't think he's quite ready to play 90 minutes," Mousinho told BBC Radio Solent.

"I think there's a serious consideration there that once we get to 45 minutes to see where he is and I think the same will apply if and when he next starts a game."

Bishop was Pompey's top scorer last season with 21 goals in 48 appearances across all competitions as they won the League One title to earn promotion into the Championship.

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Millwall manager Neil Harris says he can understand everyone's frustration after their Championship match Portsmouth was postponed because of a power failure at Fratton Park.

Millwall are on an eight game unbeaten run but Harris accepts it was an issue out of everyone's hands.

"2,000 Millwall fans have travelled down here and they were hugely respectful and it's frustrating for everyone," Harris told BBC London.

"I hope everyone can understand health and safety comes first but you can't control the weather and you can't control power grids so we just have to accept it and move on.

"I hope fans can use their tickets at the rearranged game but they don't get a refund on their travel so I feel for them and hope everyone gets home safely.

"Portsmouth were very good, as was the match official Dean Whitestone and we had as much information as possible until the security and police have to take the matter out of everyone's hands and make the decision that's in the best interests of the fans."

Millwall are next due to visit Oxford United in the Championship on Saturday, while Pompey travel to Swansea.

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Here's more from Portsmouth chief executive officer Andrew Cullen after their Championship match with Millwall was postponed because of a power cut.

"I can’t speculate at this time but what we can say is that Fratton Park is served by a sub station and it has been identified that one of the fuse boards had blown," he told BBC Radio Solent.

"The problem is that we don’t have any access to that sub station so our maintenance team weren’t able to get into there to try and resolve the situation themselves.

"We need to do a lot more to find out what caused that to happen, both teams were desperate to play the game so I’m really conscious and upset for the supporters from both teams who made the trip.

"It’s not great and I can only apologise to both sets of supports and those who travelled."

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Portsmouth chief executive officer Andrew Cullen says they had no option but to postpone Wednesday's Championship match with Millwall because of a power cut at Fratton Park.

"We got to a point where the floodlights were back on but there was still an issue with non-emergency lighting and CCTV so we had a decision to make in terms of crowd safety," he told BBC Radio Solent.

"There’s more to this than just 22 players on the football pitch. We had a capacity crowd here tonight and we did not have confidence that we could get through a whole game with some lighting not working in the stands.

"Then we got to 8:30 and then we had a further problem which was the last trains going back to London for the Millwall supporters, and they would not have been able to get those back so a decision had to be made.

"I’m incredibly disappointed and I’m upset that we had to call the game off but it was the only logical decision at that time to do in the interests of everyone’s safety."

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The last time Millwall and Portsmouth met in a league fixture 12 years ago, a young striker wrong-footed the Pompey defence on the edge of the area before firing low into the corner to secure a 1-0 win for the Lions.

On loan from Tottenham, Millwall's number 37 would go to become a household name and a national icon as his nine goals in 27 games over the second half of the 2011-12 campaign offered a prelude to his greatness.

He was just 18, but Harry Kane's strike to defeat Pompey combined the skill and precision we have subsequently seen again, and again... and again, for club and country.

The England captain has 69 goals for his country - 16 more than second-placed Wayne Rooney - and scored 280 times for Tottenham before moving to Bayern Munich in 2023.

His goal that day at Fratton Park in April 2012 was the last in the league between Millwall and Pompey, with the south coast side relegated to League One that season, and Kane's contribution - including four goals in the final six games - helping steer the Lions to safety.

Pompey's promotion back to the Championship pits the two teams against each other once again, with Millwall on an eight-game unbeaten run and John Mousinho's side just one point above bottom club QPR.

Millwall won both games 1-0 in the 2011-12 season but have won just two of their last 19 league visits to Portsmouth [D7 L10]. The Lions won 1-0 when the clubs met in the Carabao Cup at Fratton Park in August.

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Portsmouth head coach John Mousinho has been impressed with the performances of Wednesday's opponents Millwall.

Pompey host the Lions at Fratton Park having seen their Championship match at Blackburn postponed on Saturday, further delaying their return to action after the international break.

Millwall are unbeaten in their past eight league matches and have only conceded three goals in that run.

"They're well-organised defensively and well-drilled as a team which is something we'll have to work on to try to unpick that lock," Mousinho told BBC Radio Solent.

"We need to move the ball quickly to put them under pressure but while their defensive record is excellent they've also got a real attacking threat as well."

Portsmouth's last game before the break saw them record their first home victory of the season by beating Preston 3-1 and Mousinho is hoping that is a sign of things to come.

"As a general rule you try to build any success on decent home form and when you pick up home wins it gives you a bit more breathing space away which we haven't had so this is definitely a very important game," he added.

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Portsmouth defender Connor Ogilvie feels they have got to grips with the Championship.

Pompey failed to win any of their opening nine games after promotion from League One last season but head into Wednesday's meeting with Millwall looking to record back-to-back victories for the first time this term.

"I think we're adapting to the Championship - it was a tough start but I think we're getting there now," Ogilvie told BBC Solent.

"We didn't want the gap (at the bottom) to get bigger and we're clawing it back and we need to keep doing what we're doing on the front foot and being aggressive."

The former Gillingham full-back has chipped in with two goals himself this season, making him the club's joint-second top scorer and is pleased with how they are now approaching games.

"We're much better on the front foot - just sitting in and waiting for the opposition to score is like a slow death.

"We're not used to losing games and we've dealt with that as a group and it's been good in training and we're starting to see that on a game day."

Ahead of the midweek schedule Portsmouth are second from bottom in the Championship, four points adrift of safety.

Portsmouth captain Marlon Pack believes the latest international break came at the wrong time for the club.

Pompey beat Preston North End 3-1 for their first home Championship win of the season before the interval for the November international matches, denying the chance for any momentum to be built.

"It's really hard as a player with these three international breaks coming so quickly and for us we'd probably have preferred not to have it," Pack told BBC Radio Solent's Pompey podcast Who Needs Mourinho.

"But it was just important to get that result and use this week to re-evaluate."

Portsmouth are second from bottom and three points adrift of safety as they prepare to visit Blackburn Rovers this weekend.

Veteran midfielder Pack also found himself dropped from the side earlier this season, despite being the club captain and he admits that was difficult.

"Regardless of being captain you should want to play and I was very disappointed," Pack added.

"But I'm quite pragmatic and during that time we'd only won one game so the gaffer had every right to try something to find a winning formula but I want the team to do well even if that comes at my expense sometimes."

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds.

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Portsmouth defender Regan Poole has admitted he has had a dip in form for the first time in quite a while in his career.

The 26-year-old spent more than 10 months on the sidelines due to a knee injury before returning to action in September.

"It's been tough for me personally, I've made quite a few mistakes that have led to goals which is not nice," Poole told BBC Radio Solent.

"It's frustrating and plays on my mind, of course, but it's football, it's how you bounce back."

The former Lincoln City centre-back has started 10 consecutive matches for Pompey after his return to full fitness.

"Obviously I came back at Burnley - it was adrenaline mostly and it's been quite frustrating since then," he said. "I wanted to take off where I left off but that hasn't been the case at all.

"It's nice that the gaffer knows what I'm going through, he would have loved to have played me a little bit less and the big thing for me was getting to this international break feeling fit with no niggles."

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Blackburn welcome Portsmouth to Ewood Park after ending a run of four games without a win by beating Cardiff 3-1 in Wales last time out.

Pompey are three points from safety but won their second game of the season before the international break, a 3-1 success over Preston at Fratton Park.

• Blackburn Rovers are unbeaten across their last five league games against Portsmouth (W4 D1), since a 3-2 loss at Fratton Park in November 2008.

• Portsmouth have lost each of their last three and six of their last seven (W1) away league games against Blackburn Rovers, with this fixture not seeing a draw at Ewood Park since April 2000.

• Blackburn have won both of their Championship games against newly promoted teams this season, having gone nine without a win against promoted teams before this (D2 L7).

• Portsmouth's Colby Bishop has scored six goals in his last eight league appearances, netting in his first ever Championship appearance last time out in the 3-1 win over Preston.

• Blackburn's opening goal at Cardiff last time out was following a sequence of 41 passes before Andreas Weimann scored; only one Championship goal has had more passes in the build-up on record (since 2013-14), a Cesare Casadei goal for Leicester against Rotherham last December (54).

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Portsmouth striker Colby Bishop's return to Fratton Park was an emotional one after he scored a second half penalty during Saturday's 3-1 victory over Preston North End on his comeback following heart surgery.

On this week's 'Who Needs Mourinho?' podcast, BBC Radio Solent's Andrew Moon talks about the story behind the scenes and how it seemed that "the script was written" for Bishop to bring light to a miserable season.

"It just feels like there's been a massive lack of joy at Fratton Park following Pompey this season, and it wasn't just the fact that Pompey won the game and it wasn't just the fact that they totally deserved to win the game - but it just felt like the perfect ending to have Colby Bishop coming off the bench, no one was expecting him," Moon said.

"It tells you how Pompey fans think that more than one fan has said to me this week that they were worried he was going to miss and Preston were going to go up other the end and score. But look, that's not how fairy tales go.

"It's just so wonderful that he would come on in probably the happiest home game of the season and get that wonderful moment and take the penalty."

As for where the win leaves Portsmouth, Moon feels that it has helped to put the "doom and gloom" feeling among fans behind them.

"Psychologically, being in the relegation zone is bad but when there's a number of teams within three points you just feel like it's striking distance," he added.

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds.

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Portsmouth manager John Mousinho said Pompey's 3-1 Championship win over Preston North End was "huge" ahead of the international break.

The victory was just Portsmouth's second in the league since their return to the second tier but moved them off the foot of the table.

"We knew that we needed the result after everything that's happened this season and this week as well," Mousinho told BBC Radio Solent.

"It's been really frustrating just to take the one point from those two games [against Hull City and Plymouth Argyle].

"So the result was the most important thing and very close second to that was the performance.

"It's huge in terms of the points we've picked up and just giving everybody a lift."

Mousinho said it had been a week of "head scratching and frustration" before the win at Fratton Park on Saturday.

"A point up at Hull, which we probably take, but we should have won the game," he added. "We certainly should have taken at least a point on Tuesday [at Plymouth].

"And we're sitting there thinking 'how on earth have we put ourselves in this position?' We know why - because we haven't been ruthless and clinical at both ends of the pitch.

"You probably don't want the international break to come now. But we've got a bit of an opportunity to rest some of the boys again. I think that will help us."