Joey Barton hails match-winner Luke McCormick’s ‘enormous potential’
Posted Tuesday, April 06, 2021 by PA
Joey Barton lavished praise on two-goal hero Luke McCormick after his Bristol Rovers side came from behind against Doncaster to boost hopes of escaping the League One drop zone.
Doncaster took a 13th-minute lead when James Coppinger accepted a pass from Taylor Richards before curling a right-footed shot past Anssi Jaakkola.
But Barton’s men hit back on 37 minutes, Chelsea loanee McCormick burying a fierce right-footed drive from an angle after running onto Zain Westbrook’s pass.
The same combination worked again on 56 minutes when Westbrook pulled the ball back for McCormick to find the roof of the net with a stunning shot from 15 yards.
A delighted Barton said of the 22-year-old: “Luke is a young player of enormous potential. He has really bought into the team ethic I require since I came to the club.
“He was excellent at Ipswich in our last game and today has come up with two great strikes which have brought us a vital win.
“I always rate character more important than quality and my players have shown it in abundance to come from a goal down against a good team.
“There is still a long way to go to get out of trouble but now we can take some real momentum into our next match, which is an important one at Northampton.
“We have to stop giving opponents leads through mistakes and there is still a lot to work to do. But the players can take confidence from today’s performance.
“I am not setting a points target for safety. We must set out to win all our remaining games.”
Doncaster thought they had levelled early in the second half but Fejiri Okenabirhie’s close-range shot was ruled out for offside.
Their manager Andy Butler said: “We started the game very well and looked to be in the ascendency when James Coppinger scored to put us in front.
“It was a very well-taken goal and he just keeps on showing his quality week in, week out.
“At that stage I was happy. But after taking the lead we took our foot off the gas and I wasn’t pleased with what I saw in the remainder of the game.
“We gave away both goals through errors and it was disappointing that we allowed a side who were low on confidence to come back and beat us.
“I will assess our performance when watching it back and act accordingly. We still have 27 points to play for and the season is far from over.
“A lot of people are writing us off for the play-offs but I have faith in my squad and we will work hard to put things right.”
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