Promotion the aim for Bristol Rovers boss Joey Barton

Posted Sunday, January 08, 2023 by PA

Joey Barton is setting his sights on successive promotions following another Bristol Rovers victory.

The Gas are only three points adrift of the League One play-offs following a 2-1 success at Cambridge

Coupled with Morecambe’s victory, results on Saturday leave Cambridge only one place and two points above the League One relegation zone, with the Shrimps the next team to visit the Abbey Stadium next weekend.

“This season we’re aiming for promotion,” Barton said after Josh Coburn and Scott Sinclair responded to Sam Smith’s opener.

“We think we’re good enough. We’re a new team in the division but we’ve got absolutely no fear about playing anybody. There’s no real pressure on us except internal pressure, and who knows?

“They had one attack, and credit to their lad it’s a hell of a header from there. Sometimes you’re powerless if the opposition have good play.

“It was a bit of a sucker punch for us but I thought we responded superbly.

“At the front side of the team with some of the quality players we’ve got you’re always going to create chances.

“The lads have got themselves back in the game with a really good goal, and then we take the lead with probably as good a goal as you’ll see all season, a fantastic passing move hit them on the counter.

“The wind’s facing the opposite way and you know you’re going to have to defend properly, and I thought to a man we were excellent in the second period at keeping the back door closed.”

Mark Bonner was disappointed to see his Cambridge side’s strong start end in a defeat, while also ruing a potential offside that wasn’t given in the build-up to Sinclair’s winner.

“We started like a house on fire”, said Bonner. “We were brilliant in the first 20 minutes, everything we want to be. The goal was exceptional. We let them back in the game, it’s from our own restart and they break away.

“In a five-minute period the game turns around. The second goal’s offside so it shouldn’t be given, and then we have a period when we have lots of effort but not enough quality to create a chance.

“They should see that, it’s pretty obvious really. It was about two yards offside, you can see it on the video quite clearly.

“The game goes away from us at that point and we go in at half-time behind in a game that we were very, very good in to begin with.

“We’ve got to make sure that the chances we create become a goal more often because we’re in games but we’re finding ways of not taking points from them.

“In the end it was a fairly even game and yet again we’ve come out on the wrong side of it.”