Joey Barton believes Bristol Rovers are a completely different team these days to the one well beaten by Leyton Orient earlier in the season, but he insists his players are not getting carried away ahead of the return fixture on Tuesday.
After a sluggish start to the season, a run of just one defeat in their past 10 games has seen the Gas surge into play-off contention, with Saturday's 4-0 demolition of Stevenage taking Barton's blues to within five points of League Two's top seven with a game in hand.
Kenny Jackett's Orient were among the early pace-setters in the fourth tier, seeing off the Gas 3-1 at the Mem in September, but they have failed to win any of their past nine games to slum to 18h, just five points clear of the bottom two.
The form book suggests Rovers will be favourites to claim victory at Brisbane Road, and despite the soaring confidence in and around the Gas squad, Barton has made clear that they are focused on the task at hand.
"We’ve got a good group," Barton said of his players. "They’re really level headed and they don’t get carried away. They know we’ve had a slow start to the season and we’ve got work to do.
"I think actually getting off to a poor start and coming through that carnage, whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. We have made it through as a group, there were different times that we were tested and we made it through.
"We have a real strength and resilience now because we don’t take our fanbase for granted and we know what it’s like if we’re not running hard and not playing well. Now, because we’ve experienced both of those feelings with the group, we know what we much prefer and the lads go out now and the fans know this team is going to leave everything out on the pitch. That’s what any fan asks for.
"We’re playing some great football in the midst of that and scoring goals and winning games.
"The Gasheads have been through some tough periods but we’re starting to get a team and, more importantly, a football club that they can be proud of because for a long period it’s been a little bit of a chaotic time to be a Gashead for maybe a couple of decades. We want to give them a football club that lasts the ages and is a benchmark that whoever comes after us, the next custodian, that stands the test of time."
Barton believes Orient, as well as Swindon Town, are the best side Rovers have come across this season, with boos fired in Barton's direction at full-time. But the Rovers manager says his team is an evolved beast these days.
"They were miles better than us and we were trying to find our way and we were all over the gaff," he added.
"But we’re a completely different outfit now and it looks like the big, strong, physical boys they (Orient) had early in the season, the games take their toll on them because they’re a bit bigger and they get a bit stiffer as the weather comes and the fitness levels start to diminish. Carrying a 6ft 6in player starts to become a negative for you.
"Their game was called off on Saturday morning at Harrogate. I’m pretty sure they would have travelled up there on Friday and they didn’t play. We’ll find out after 90 minutes on Tuesday if that’s worked for them or against them.
"But you can’t imagine anything but pure confidence and belief growing through our players having dusted Stevenage off on Saturday.
"We look forward to playing anybody now. We faced Mansfield and Sutton, who were the two form sides in our division for sure, but we are also. I talk about the 10-game blocks and I think there’s only Mansfield sitting above us in that form table, and we intend to keep driving the standards and getting better.
"The best is yet to come from this group, for sure."
Sam Finley is one yellow card away from a two-match suspension after picking up his ninth booking in League Two this season at The Lamex Stadium on Saturday. He also accrued a yellow card in the FA Cup, but cards are only relevant to the completion they were accrued in, meaning he is available to play on Tuesday.
Barton said Antony Evans will be in the squad after he missed a third game on Saturday due to a hamstring niggle, with Rovers choosing to be cautious with plenty of depth across the midfield.
Alfie Kilgour remains sidelined by a knee injury, but Josh Grant and Jon Nolan have a chance of making the trip to the capital.
"Evo will come back into the mix," Barton said. "The problem for him now is who are you going to leave out?
"He was chomping at the bit. He trained before the weekend but we felt we would give him that little bit of extra time, and also we knew we weren’t going to make many changes on Saturday due to the quality of the performance against Sutton, so we gave him that extra period of recuperation, but he’s chomping at the bit.
"Alfie Kilgour has had a little bit of a setback so we’re going to have to be careful with him. His knee is still grumbling on. Josh Grant is hopefully back on the grass and comes back into contention, maybe for Tuesday, maybe. Jon Nolan, who we haven’t seen yet. He had his first full block of training.
"We’re coming, and that’s a credit to the owner. He’s allowed us to bring in some quality players and we’re being rewarded for his support."
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