Joey Barton said Bristol Rovers played with the memory of Steve Black in their minds as they defeated Leyton Orient 2-0 at Brisbane Road on Tuesday night.
Black, a man held in the highest regard by Barton having worked with him at Queens Park Rangers, died aged 64 on Saturday, with the Rovers manager penning an emotional tribute to "a legend" on Sunday.
Tributes flooded in for the coach, who was highly respected in both football and rugby circles. His career took in stops at Newcastle Falcons, Wales rugby, the British and Irish Lions, Newcastle United, Sunderland Fulham and Huddersfield Town.
After meeting Barton at QPR, the pair became close friends and the Rovers boss hired him as a consultant at Fleetwood Town. Barton revealed he had used Black's wisdom at Rovers, inviting him to host Zoom seminars and he became friends with members of the squad.
"It's certainly been an emotional week since Saturday’s game," Barton said. "It’s part of football, sometimes it gets missed. You have to build a brotherhood and a group that really loves each other. A group that demands the highest standards and it’s not easy to get that, that’s why it’s so special when you get it.
"We were given a great blueprint and foundation to build off because of Steve Black and the work he has done with us as a group last year, in the pre-season and just since I met him in my life.
"So, he allows you to pass on his wisdom to these younger players. As a coaching group and a playing group, we wanted to honour him tonight and give him a good send-off with a great performance.
"I think we did between tonight’s game and Saturday. Saturday’s game was the last game I think he watched, he passed away Saturday night sadly. But he was texting me after the game and he saw we won 4-0. We were really good and he would have been delighted with that.
"We were at the end of a 10-game cycle where we’d won six, drawn three and lost one. Blacky’s formula, his success profile: win regularly, draw occasionally, lose rarely - so I know he’ll be pleased at that. Then we went and backed it up again tonight. Another clean sheet. A commanding away performance with a very young side.
"So, wherever he is, wherever they go to the great ones. I know he’ll be looking down proud of the lads tonight."
Barton said he wanted to make more use of Black's expertise at Rovers, but the pandemic prevented him from having a closer affiliation with the club. However, the Zoom meetings were recorded and a clip of his voice was played to the players before Tuesday's game.
"We suffered because of the COVID restrictions it meant it was always on Zoom," Barton said. "We were fortunate enough to be able to capture his voice. The analysts have done a great job by pulling it from the Zoom conversations.
"We played that to the guys in the build-up to the game and it was special.
"Sam Finley was the last player as far as I know to have a good hour with him. I think you could sell that hour for a lot of money. If you have an hour with Steve Black you’re very fortunate. He was such a special person. I know he was instrumental.
"Obviously, Sam scored the first goal on Saturday and Blacky was firing texts into Eddy (Jennings) saying, 'I’m buzzing' and they were laughing about it.
"He’ll be sorely missed by everybody that he met in his life. As I say, you only had to look at the outpour and the scope of people he worked with across so many different arenas and he was just the best. He brought out the absolute best in you. We've lost a good’un."
Barton added his squad is being driven by many sources of inspiration, and he offered his condolences to legendary former Rovers boss Darrell Clarke, who has taken leave from Port Vale after a family bereavement.
Barton said: "First and foremost, we want to do ourselves proud. We’ve got to take care of that, but we’re carrying a few with us.
"Glenn Whelan's mum passed away during the course of the season and she’s been a massive supporter of him and his football, so we’re intent on carrying her into battle and doing her proud. Connor Taylor lost his granddad and had to miss a bit of time.
"A player's sister lost a baby, stillborn, and obviously a former coach Darrell Clarke has had some terrible news.
"So, it’s tough, football. But you’ve got to keep going and moving through it. Our group has been emotional this week but again we showed that care and love for each other on the pitch.
"We send our positivity to Darrell and his family. It’s not easy and your thoughts and prayers go to them.
"Again, we get that energy and we’re able to feed off the crowd and I think that was important tonight. I think it was a real manly performance in many ways. We had to dig deep and we were tested lots of times in the second half, but I thought the lads were outstanding."
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