The scramble for tickets for Bristol Rovers' clash with Newport County on Saturday is evidence of the momentum behind the club, Joey Barton believes.
The Gas will be backed by a sold-out away allocation of 1,100 at Rodney Parade on Saturday, with demand far outweighing supply and many Gasheads have been hopefully searching for spares and resales on social media this week to back their team on Saturday.
Rovers have taken more points than any other League Two club in 2022 to surge into promotion contention, and attendances have received a boost as a result of the growing optimism surrounding the club. The visit of Exeter City last Saturday was played in front of a sold-out crowd close to 9,700 – the biggest attendance at the Mem since 2019 – and a sizable crowd of 6,685 attended the victory over Barrow on Tuesday considering fewer than 100 away fans made the long journey from Cumbria.
While it may be painful for some fans to miss out on the high-stakes clash against promotion rivals Newport, Barton is delighted to see the increasing demand to support his team on the terraces with anything possible in the final quarter of the season.
Barton said: "It’s great, isn’t it? It’s a sign that we’re all moving in the right direction as a football club. It’s a sign that the fans are back believing in the football club.
"The football team sits at the apex of that because if a football team is not doing well, it’s difficult for the football club to do well. For us, it was our duty to get the team playing as well as it can and everything else flows out of the back of that.
"The fact we’ve got fans desperate for tickets and scrapping around trying to buy them is a good sign of where the club is at."
With confidence flowing at the Mem after a stellar run of form, Barton is coming into his own. There is no shortage of bravado and belief in the Rovers dugout; he has absolute confidence in his players and himself with the play-off places and the top three just two and five points away respectively.
From day one, he has spoken ambitiously about his vision for the club by the time his tenure concludes. He recognises he has not always been taken seriously, but the 39-year-old remains adamant that the Pirates are merely on the first steps of a long and successful journey that could have its first moment of glory in 13 games' time.
"People are feeling good about the quarters, people are feeling good about supporting Rovers and if we keep building this the way we’re building it, I want to see people walking around the city with the quarters jersey on and taking over," he said.
"That’s the plan. I haven’t just come here to get promoted out of League Two and finish mid-table in League One, that’s not what I’ve come here for. I want to do things that haven’t been done here for a long time. Some would argue they’ve never been done here, but that’s what I’m here for.
"I’ve said a lot of bold and brash things in my time here and I know I’ve been ridiculed and people have laughed at me and said I’ve lost the plot, and you have to accept that when the team isn’t functioning as well as it can, but I don’t think we’re playing anywhere near the level I think we can play at.
"We’re doing loads of good things and we’ve been superb in recent weeks, but the best is yet to come from this group. This group has still got its final few progressions to take before this season is out and I think iron sharpens iron.
"Big fixtures, big pressure and big expectation bring out the best in you and over the course of the next 13 games I think we’re going to see the emergence of some big players who produce big moments in this football club’s history."
The manager has a plethora of options to call on for Saturday's game, despite the continued unavailability of Josh Grant, Alfie Kilgour and Alex Rodman. Trevor Clarke is back in contention following surgery on a groin injury and his calculated risk of resting Sam Finley and Paul Coutts on Tuesday has paid off with Barton having plenty of fresh and in-form players to call on.
Newport, meanwhile, have selection concerns. Forward Courtney Baker-Richardson – a scorer at the Mem in the first meeting in October – midfielder Robbie Willmott and defenders Josh Pask and Priestley Farquharson are ruled out through injury.
Former Gas defender James Clarke – a stalwart of the 2015/16 League Two promotion side – is also ruled out after being sent off in the 1-1 draw against Forest Green Rovers on Tuesday.
Barton concluded: "Tricky Trev’s about to barge through my door here and demand to be in the squad, I think. He’s been chomping at the bit and he’s had a season of frustration, but we add another quality player to our squad.
"Couttsy and Sam are a bit freshened up from a breather during the week. Luckily, we didn’t have to use them.
"The squad’s in good fettle. We’re getting stronger all the time. We got another 70 minutes into Leon Clarke, which I think will be big for him, so I’m looking forward to the last quarter of the season."
SIGN UP: For our newsletter to receive more exclusive Bristol Rovers content
