Joey Barton praised a "commanding" performance as Bristol Rovers claimed a 1-0 win on the road at MK Dons on Tuesday. A penalty from second-half substitute Antony Evans was enough to secure the three points at Stadium MK, making it back-to-back victories in League One for Barton's side.
Rovers had control throughout, with the home side bereft of confidence and meek in their approach despite home advantage. They mustered just four shots, with only one on target – a simple save for James Belshaw – underlining the defensive solidity Rovers enjoyed.
The winner came 14 minutes from time after Ryan Loft was hauled to the ground by Bradley Johnson, with Evans coolly dispatching from 12 yards. Barton's side are up to 15th in the table after a third successive victory in all competitions, with a trip to Cheltenham Town on Saturday as their next assignment.
"I thought, certainly coming away from home, we were as commanding as we’ve been this season," Barton said. "I thought we showed a real level of maturity and we just kept improving as the game went on.
"We were worthy of those three points, albeit getting that first goal was going to be key. In recent weeks we’ve been crying out for reinforcements to come back and they’ve returned and we’ve still got bodies to come back, but it was a real team performance.
"I challenged them at half time to find another gear. We were comfortable in the game. They had periods of possession but we spoke about it in the build-up to the game in terms of coordinating our pressure and I thought the lads got better and better at that as the game went on. Lofty and Josh Coburn were at the tip of that, but it was a real squad effort to get the job done.
"James Belshaw has been superb for us but it is arguably his most quiet night since he joined the football club. Long may that continue."
Evans has endured a frustrating start to the season, being denied a couple of times by the woodwork in recent weeks and he has not replicated the level of performances he produced as a talisman of Rovers' promotion-winning side last season. But he was excellent in Saturday's win over Cambridge United and he followed that up with an influential cameo at Stadium MK.
Barton said: "That will do his confidence the world of good to get on the pitch and get the winner, but when you see him stepping up to take a penalty, you always fancy him due to his quality from dead balls. I’m really pleased for him.
"The travelling contingent, we probably had more fans in the stadium by the look of it, and we certainly had more noise. I’m really pleased for the Gasheads who have come out on a Tuesday night to give them back-to-back wins and a nice clean sheet to boot."
SIGN UP: To receive our free Rovers newsletter, bringing you the latest from the Mem
READ NEXT:
