Joey Barton pleased with his Bristol Rovers players’ response to loss

Posted Wednesday, March 09, 2022 by PA

Joey Barton was delighted at the way his Bristol Rovers side revived their play-off hopes with a hard-fought 2-1 Sky Bet League Two victory at Crawley.

Manager Barton was critical of the display in Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at Newport but admitted this was just the kind of reaction he was looking for.

A goal in each half from former Crawley youth player Harry Anderson and top scorer Aaron Collins gave Rovers their fifth win in eight games and put them within two points of the play-offs and three points off third place.

Barton explained: ”We are in the mix and now we have 11 cup finals to go.

“I was very pleased with the reaction of the players following a disappointing defeat last weekend.

“Crawley are always competitive in every fixture that you play (against) them and I’m delighted to get three points.”

The hosts reduced the deficit when Jake Hessenthaler headed in a Jack Powell corner, and Barton added: ”I am disappointed to concede from a corner and we could have made it easier for ourselves.

“We should have put the game to bed before that. But it’s not an easy place to come and to be leaving with three points is what we wanted. “

Crawley head coach John Yems felt Anderson’s opener looked “way offside” to him and was pleased with the way his players “stuck at it” in what was their fourth successive home fixture.

He said:” Bristol Rovers are a good side but we could have been three or four up before they scored.

“The first goal was miles offside but it was a good game of football. We stuck at it when we could have gone under.”

Crawley have now won only two of their last 13 home games, but Yems went into the game insisting he was happy with the squad and there was no great cause for worry as his men were creating chances.

He added: ”It is onwards and upwards. It was disappointing to lose Jordan Tunnicliffe in the first half with a hamstring injury, especially after seeing Kwesi Appiah and Jake Hessenthaler return to the squad after their injuries.”

Crawley had a crowd of 2,223, with a travelling band of 556 Rovers fans, and Yems was not happy with the attendance for what he felt was an attractive game against play-off chasing opponents.

He said:” Only 1,500 people were here so something is not right. Sometimes you have to be careful what you wish for.”