Joey Barton believes some of his Bristol Rovers players were like "rabbits in the headlights" at Barnsley and have plenty of lessons to learn quickly as focus turns to Saturday’s trip to Portsmouth.
The Gas were comprehensively beaten 3-0 by Barnsley on Tuesday, and Barton was disappointed to see his side fail to “lay a glove” on the Tykes, who also dominated the physical battle at Oakwell.
Rovers succumbed to an early storm from the hosts to be two down inside a quarter of an hour. That must be stamped out if the Gas are to bounce back at the notoriously noisy Fratton Park, with Pompey unbeaten in League One so far with two wins and two draws.
“I do think we had a couple who were a little bit rabbit in the headlights and that might come into my team selection for Saturday’s game,” Barton said. “For us, you win or you learn and we’ve got to learn those lessons as quickly as we can because there are going to be some big atmospheres and big stadiums.
“Fratton Park, the crowd are on you. They’ve won 4-1 tonight (against Cambridge) and they’ve got their tail up and they’ll certainly watch the footage of tonight’s game and they will probably lick their chops and look forward to us coming.
“I’ve said to the lads in there don’t bother coming in on Thursday and Friday unless you’re ready for a war. You know what the Cowley’s teams are going to be like, with Joe Pigott, Colby Bishop, Morrison, Raggett. You’re going to be tested in all departments because they create a strong physical team.
“Tonight, we haven’t stood up to that and we must be better.”
The Gas have six points on the board after four games since returning to League One. The back-to-back wins against Oxford United and Burton Albion showed they have what it takes to cut it at the level. But Barton believes off nights and poor performances will be par for the course this season.
“I think there are going to be some moments like that this season,” he explained. “There are going to be times when a young, emerging group new to the division are going to have some tough afternoons.
“For us, just not to lay a glove on them is the disappointing thing. We haven’t threatened anywhere near enough, we haven’t showed real creativity in the final third and far too many of our big players were miles off it tonight.
“These boys have more than enough credit with me to not be getting after them at half time. It doesn’t serve a purpose really.
“It’s not through the lads’ desire. You only have to look at last season to see the desire they showed in key moments, but also in the opening gambit of this season. I thought on Saturday they showed some real togetherness and teamship.
“We are going to have the odd battle that goes against us and it’s how we respond and stick together. Going forward, we must learn these lessons and we must learn them quickly.”
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