Joey Barton outlines lofty Bristol Rovers ambition

Bristol Rovers manager Joey Barton spoke on his belief that his side can achieve promotion from League Two after they beat Sutton 2-0 on Tuesday night.

The Gas currently sit 11th in League Two, seven points off seventh-placed Newport County who they have two games in hand on.

Joey Barton spoke to Bristol Live to discuss his side’s chances of promotion and how they look to approach the coming games.

He said: “You have to look at the games over four blocks of 10 and a six-game spurt if you’re in and around it. Hopefully a few more if you don’t quite get the automatics or win it.

“After the Oldham defeat, we were four (wins), two (draws) and one (defeat). We’ve backed that up with a draw on Saturday to go four, three and one and now we’re five, three and one.

“Winning regularly, drawing occasionally and losing rarely, you get promoted off that because it puts you in and around the two-points-per-game average, which is where you want to be to be challenging.

“There’s loads to go in the season, but for the first time in my tenure here we’ve gone from being a losing side to being a grinding, difficult-to-beat side to now being a side capable of stringing a couple of back-to-backs and clean sheets together, which is needed if you’re going to be successful. It’s built on good defences.”

Rovers clinching a 2-0 win over surprise package of the season, Sutton United, could prove to be crucial as Aaron Collins and Harry Anderson helped The Gas seal a first win since Walsall at the end of January.

After a run of dismal form including a loss to Oldham Athletic, people could be forgiven for thinking Bristol Rovers were out of the running for the play-offs, however with two games in hand and a win against high-flying Sutton could be the