Joey Barton believes he will take Bristol Rovers to the Championship one day as he sees parallels between the Gas and Bolton Wanderers in their evolution.
The Memorial Stadium outfit travel to take on the Whites this evening in League One. The Gas are new to the division this season, having been promoted from League Two last campaign.
Barton's side are comfortablt in midtable as things stand, a decent showing for a newly promoted side. Bolton meanwhile are in the top six and will be seeking to consolidate their place in the play-offs with three points this evening.
READ MORE: Aaron Morley assesses Bristol Rovers, year since Bolton move & January transfers response
Barton sees parallels on the journey his side are on with the one Bolton have been on in recent seasons, with both teams dropping out of League One before being promoted back out of League Two. The Gas boss wants to take the Bristol side to the Championship, which Wanderers are aiming for this season, as he spoke warmly of the Whites.
He told BristolLive : "Bolton are probably 12 months down the evolution of us. They are a team that was in League One and was relegated and then built their way back up. They were similar to us in League Two that they started slow and finished quickly.
"They then used that momentum to consolidate and I think they started really quickly but then had a sluggish spell and picked up again and consolidated. They have now moved on again and this is what being a League One club allows you to do.
"Bolton, being a Premier League club in the past with the stadium, it allows you to attract players in League Two and League One and because of the Sam Allardyce and Premier League days, it still has a bit of an allure. It’s close to Manchester so they recruit from that North West hotbed and they have progressed their club quite quickly.
"I see us on a similar transition to them, albeit a season behind them because they went up into League One before us. They are a side like Plymouth who were probably two years ahead of that cycle when Ryan Lowe did it. You’ve got to take a look around and take steps in the right direction.
"I’m absolutely convinced I will get Bristol Rovers into the Championship before the end of my tenure here, but let’s not try to run before we can walk. This is softly, softly catchy monkey, you’ve got to build solid foundations and Sunday pointed out if we have one or two of our key components of our team out, the people coming in to do the job behind them at this moment in time aren’t capable of doing it at the level of Boreham Wood, never mind Bolton Wanderers."
Barton made his debut for Manchester City in April 2003 against the Whites, losing 2-0 on that occasion. The Rovers boss has recalled his first appearance and how he was 'chasing' Wanderers legend Jay Jay Okocha in that encounter.
He said: "I made my debut there, chasing Jay Jay Okocha. We lost 2-0 and I actually played alright and stayed in the team and the rest his history.
"I will always remember it. I didn’t know I was playing in the dressing room and Kevin Keegan reads the teamsheet out. I wasn’t in the team on the Friday for the team shape.
"I was like ‘Did he just name me in the team?’ Robbie Fowler was like ‘Yeah, you’re starting’. I was like ‘s***!’
"I didn’t know and the nerves come over you. I went out for the warm-up shaking like a s****** dog, came back in and I sat in the dressing room and a calmness descended over me. By the time I got in the tunnel and I was calm, I was like ‘Alright, I’m built for this’ and I knew at that point I could live in that environment."
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