Joey Barton believes Bristol Rovers’ clinical performance at Melksham Town was evidence of an excellent first week back in pre-season as new signings Luke Thomas and Jevani Brown were among the goalscorers in the Gas’ 9-0 victory at Oakfield Stadium.
Rovers put on a show in the first half in Wiltshire, scoring six times through a Thomas brace, the outstanding Scott Sinclair, who also helped himself to two goals, a rejuvenated Luke McCormick, operating in the No10 role, and John Marquis.
Barton switched all bar left-back Ryan Jones for the second half, bringing Brown on in an advanced midfield position just off central striker Ryan Loft, and both attacking players added to the scoreline with the ninth provided by a mystery triallist.
Granted, the opposition and competitiveness will increase in quality and intensity as the summer progresses but, for the manager, this was a professional display and continued the trend of what he’s witnessed through the week at The Quarters.
“It was the end of a really good week for us," Barton said. "The lads reported back on Monday and it’s been a really nice introduction. We use this game as a barometer for where the squad’s at in terms of the health of the group.
“I just felt when I turned up on Monday, just the noise and the fitness tests we do, I kind of knew we had our best group at this point not only at Bristol Rovers, but I include my Fleetwood teams in that.
"There was a nice energy in the building, everybody has turned up in really good shape, as you can see from the performance and the bit of quality that we’ve added has really complemented the young, hungry group that we had last year. It was a solid end to a really good week.”
With the exception of Lewis Gordon, who missed two days of training after sustaining a knock this week and will be further assessed on Monday, Barton ensured all his senior players received at least 45 minutes with Ryan Jones the only member of the squad playing in both halves, at left back.
While the gap in quality was evident over the 90 minutes, fitness levels were also very clearly apparent with the Gas team looking sharp all the way to the final whistle and it’s an aspect of pre-season so far that the manager hasn’t had to spend too much time concerning himself with, such has been the diligence of his players in the post-season period after the end of last season.
“The standards, right across the board; body fats were all on point so you’re not wasting any time in trimming anyone up and that’s a real benefit and saves us wasting time and allows us to focus on the football,” Barton added.
“Also, their attitude and application, they’ve driven each other on. You can hear the camaraderie in the group. My fear was we’ve lost our captain in Couttsy, who was a stalwart of the team and you’re never quite sure how that’s going to play out. Certainly this week is a bit early to answer that question but the lads have stepped up and leaders are emerging from all over the group and that’s what we’re really looking to develop.”
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