Joey Barton’s Bristol Rovers side could be faced with the gamble of the play-offs as they look to fulfil their manager’s bold claim that his team will be promoted this season.
Barton, who has managed the club since early 2021, has helped Rovers up to a fifth-place position in League Two with three games left still to play. The automatic promotion spots are still open to the Pirates but with a game at top of the league Forest Green Rovers on Saturday, they could struggle to close the two-point gap between them and third spot Port Vale.
Former England international Barton still claims his side are best placed to sneak into the automatic promotion spots to get back up to League One. The Rovers' boss told NewsChain Sport: “We will take some stopping from here. I wouldn’t swap my squad with anyone.”
After a difficult start to the season, Rovers soon got into a groove this year with help from rising star Connor Taylor who is on loan from Newcastle United. On the culture in the Rovers dressing room, Taylor said to BristolLive: “Everyone is covering each other and if anyone makes a mistake, you bail them out. That’s the culture we’ve got in the dressing room.”
However, if Barton is unable to deliver on his claim of automatic promotion certainty, The Gas will be left with the play-offs to get themselves up. Nevertheless, he feels his side have the combination of talent and momentum to get them over the line.
He said: “No group of players will be fitter and better prepared for the final stages of the season. Momentum is incredibly important, and we have it.” Rovers are no strangers to play-off runs and won the National League final against Grimsby Town on penalties in 2015 to get back to the fourth division of English football.
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If their only chance of getting promoted is through the play-offs, they would currently be facing Northampton, Sutton United and Tranmere Rovers for that coveted fourth spot to League One. However, very little has separated these sides all season with just four points difference between fourth and seventh.
In recent weeks, the Quarters have beaten Sutton United and Northampton, as well as drawn at Tranmere. Barton will be hoping for similar things if their fate is decided by a play-off. He told BristolLive: “The mantra for us pretty much since November has been ‘Can we take care of the next game?’ The next game for us is the team that sits top of the pile.
“It will be a huge challenge, but we are at the Mem[orial Stadium] and it’s become the fortress we’ve always wanted it to be and I can’t wait to get in our stadium in front of our fans on our pitch. We’ve got three more to go, maybe more beyond that, but if we win those three games it will certainly go a long way to having our own say in our destiny. We’ll see how the dust settles on that and what we’ve got to do.”
