Joey Barton believes no team fancies playing Bristol Rovers with his team charging through the field "like a juggernaut" as the race for League Two promotion nears its climax.
A stellar run of form since mid-December has seen the Gas beaten just once in 13 games as they close in on the play-off places, with Tuesday's dramatic win over Barrow cutting the deficit to the top seven to two points. Victory at Newport County on Saturday could take Rovers into a play-off berth for the first time this season and Barton made clear there is no shortage of confidence amongst his group ahead of the short journey to Rodney Parade.
He believes the division is taking notice of Rovers and their superb form – no team in the fourth tier has claimed more points in 2022 – as they vie to burst into the top seven with 13 games remaining. The manager, however, knows Newport beat his side – when they were a meeker being in the autumn – with relative ease and the Exiles pose another difficult challenge on Saturday.
"The secret is out with us now," Barton said. "I think everybody knows there is a big blue-and-white-quartered horse coming through the field like a juggernaut. We’ve known it silently and secretly for a period, we felt it coming as a group, but now due to the league table and the result in the week and other teams slipping up in the week, the cat’s out of the bag.
"But we’ve got 13 more fences to go, a really big fence at Newport on Saturday. One we’re confident of clearing, but we know it won’t be straightforward. It’s a Becher’s Brook kind of moment and we’ve got to make sure with every fence we meet that we clear it with aplomb."
A haul of 25 points in 12 games since the turn of the year has dragged Rovers from mid-table obscurity to the cusp of the top seven. That upward trend has been aided by impactful business in the transfer window and players returning form injury to give the Gas enviable strength in depth at a time when other clubs are being hit by injuries and suspensions.
Harvey Saunders, Luke Thomas and Sion Spence have each missed out on matchday squads in recent weeks, underlining the reinforcements Barton can call on from the bench. The Rovers boss believes that will be a crucial factor in the run-in.
He explained: "We had a slow start which didn’t really help us, but it’s been the making of us as a group, I think, and the making of everybody. We’ve all had to go through that tough time to figure out why getting it right is so special.
"You’ve got to remember all of those teams are going to be looking at us now going ‘They had a slow start, but you don’t want to be playing them at the minute’. They’re all going to be looking at all the results, the clean sheets, the wins we’re having.
"That’s before they look at the team sheet and go ‘My god, look at the bench. Look at the starting XI. Who’s the weakest link?’, because you’re only as strong as you’re weakest link.
"What is starting to happen now is teams are creaking, teams are getting suspensions and injuries, teams are having to take on a load of 30-plus games now, and we’re getting stronger now at every opportunity, we’re getting stronger and stronger and stronger."
With the pieces falling into place for Rovers and their manager, he believes he has all bases covered.
"I really do think nobody wants to play us at this moment in time, we’re not the team you want to play," he said. "Newport won’t be fearful because of the result they had against us, but also the fact they’ve got a home tie and with what’s at stake, it’s a big game.
"With 13 to go, it’s a high-stakes game, it’s a six-pointer in many ways and I look around my group and go ‘Whoa, I’ve got 92 Ireland caps there, I’ve got a promotion to the Premier League there and I’ve got Premier League goals there’
"And I’ve got a lovely balance of hungry young lions and old and experienced lions who don’t get carried away, saying ‘Settle down, we haven’t done anything yet’.
"Training is still on the money and no-one is getting carried away, there are no big celebrations after a win. It’s very much business, a very clinical approach we’ve been taking in recent months because we know there is a long way to go before this race finishes."
Rovers' abject start to the season meant automatic promotion has seldom been a realistic target, but the gap to the top three is just five points now and Barton declared avoiding the need for the play-offs his objective.
"We’re coming into the end of the season with a live chance," he said. "Earlier in the season, we’re looking over our shoulder to make sure we stay in the football league and finally we got the 50-point mark, which means we’re safe.
"That’s the first job done. When you get relegated, the first job is making sure you stay in the division you drop into. That’s job one done and now we’ve got to make sure with the games remaining we can make this an exciting end to the season for the Gasheads.
"I’d prefer it to be exciting but finish when it finishes, and to do that we’ve got a bit of work to do and some points to make up, but luckily we’ve got to play a load of those teams who are above us at the moment."
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