Joey Barton believes Bristol Rovers will have to deal with a "Championship-level Bobby Firmino" in the shape of David McGoldrick when Derby County visit the Mem on Saturday, but the Gas manager is confident his in-form team can cause the Rams problems in their promotion pursuit.
Former Premier League forward McGoldrick, 35, has been outstanding for Derby this season with 18 goals and six assists, including a hat-trick in a win over the Gas at Pride Park in October, and Barton is wary of the threat he will pose in BS7.
But Rovers have been buoyed by back-to-back wins over the Easter weekend against Fleetwood Town and Charlton Athletic to all but confirm their place in League One next season. With seven games to play, they sit 13 points clear of Accrington Stanley in the final relegation place.
Derby, meanwhile, have slipped outside the top six, winning just one of their five games, meaning there is huge pressure on Paul Warne's side when they take on the Gas. But Barton knows the quality they have in their ranks, particularly up front with McGoldrick and James Collins leading the line.
"He’s kind of a Championship-level Bobby Firmino," Barton said when asked about the threat McGoldrick will pose. "He does lots of really good stuff, linking the team together. He’s a very smart player.
"Premier League in that Sheffield United team, he didn’t get the goals because it’s a very difficult division. At League One level, before his Sheffield United days, at Ipswich he was a nuisance and a constant thorn in Championship defences and his experience is what sets him apart.
"He is in that Firmino role, that kind of Dennis Bergkamp type, coming and linking from the frontline and at League One level, he is an absolute nuisance and the key for Derby is keeping him fit and on the pitch because when he is on there, as we have seen this season, he is a goalscorer and a match-winner.
"We’ll have a plan for him, but we’ve got to focus on what we do. We know from Barnsley and Ipswich’s visits to our stadium, we can make it really tricky for teams."
Firmino has been a pivotal player for Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool during a hugely successful stint at Anfield which is set to come to an end at the conclusion of this season with the Brazillian heading elsewhere. Firmino's movement and intelligence have not only made him a reliable source of goals and assists, but his link-up play has benefitted his teammates and Barton sees obvious parallels to McGoldrick, relative to their respective levels.
After struggling defensively all season, Rovers have instilled a new-found defensive strength in recent weeks. They have kept three clean sheets in their past seven games, conceding just six goals, representing a marked improvement on the 1.5-goals-per-game average they were shipping for most of the campaign.
Barton wants to see his young back four, with no player older than 22-year-old Lewis Gibson, prove their defensive prowess in a challenging run-in that sees the Gas take on five of League One's top seven before the end of the term, starting with the Rams on Saturday.
"Charlton were free-scoring before they came to our stadium," the manager added. "They weren’t free-scoring and everyone said they had an off day, but the next time out three days later against Burton, they were back on it again.
"We need to give our lads more credit for the job they did, and the same at Fleetwood. We have had one shot on target against us in 180 minutes. For our young group, certainly with (Jayden) Stockley and (Jack) Marriott at Fleetwood, and Charlton’s front three have been a menace in recent weeks for League One defences.
"We are confident we can cause Derby lots of problems, but also it’s a big test for us. They need to win. They just dropped out of the play-off positions, there will be pressure on them and there is a little bit of pressure off us because of our recent results.
"But we want to get back the three points we didn’t get at Pride Park and also we want to give a good account of ourselves in our stadium against a top-end League One team."
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