Joey Barton believes Bristol Rovers’ 4-1 win over Accrington Stanley at the Mem on Tuesday was the blueprint for how he wants his side to play.
The Gas were dominant, exacting revenge for a 6-1 defeat to Stanley in the return fixture last month, with Luke Leahy, Alex Rodman, Sam Nicholson and Zain Westbrooke getting the goals before Paul Smyth’s consolation strike.
Victory lifted Rovers out of the bottom four but Barton is not getting carried away, though he was delighted with his side’s brand of football.
“Look, it’s three points. Nothing more, nothing less,” the Gas boss said.
“I think performances in recent weeks haven’t been too different to tonight, we just haven’t picked up the results.
“It was about key moments in the game and I thought tonight the lads were superb. I’ve just been in to see John (Coleman) and 4-1 flatters a side that’s chasing the play-offs.
“That’s how we’re going to play. We’re going to attack teams.
“I felt on Saturday at Hull, we maybe didn’t fully believe that we could take it to a top-of-the-table side for 90 plus minutes.
“We had a couple of line-in-the-sand moments this week, where we explained what the standards are to the boys, that we expect to go to the KCOM and win.
“We’re Bristol Rovers, we’re not a side that’s going to go anywhere and take part. We want to get this place rocking and when we get 10,000-12,000 in here and play that type of football, I think it will be very difficult for teams at this level to maintain their composure.
“But we have to play the type of football and all of that is built on the standards, daily habits. Excellence is a daily habit. It’s not just an act, it’s something you have to work at and work at and work at.
“We’ve got a big game coming up on Saturday against AFC Wimbledon here, and we have to raise the bar again and be better and better and better.”
Barton’s arrival at the Mem has brought not only improved results but vastly improved performances, with his players quickly adopting his demands.
But he remains focused on the task at hand: keeping Rovers in League One.
“It’s always pleasing when your players pick up your message relatively quickly,” he said.
“It’s alright showing them on the training ground, but when you’re in a matchday scenario, and there nerves and the adrenaline are flowing through your body, to actually execute and feel that goes a long way to reinforcing the messages.
“The lads have been superb since we got here, but we’re still two wins and three losses.
“For me, the success profile is win regularly, draw occasionally and lose rarely. We’re a long way off that, but tonight and the performances in the last few weeks give me enough confidence to know we’ve got a solid foundation there, as long as we keep turning up and paying our dues.
“The boys are growing inch by inch, day by day and our culture is what will get us home. Today, as I say, gives us a solid platform to build off, but there’s 13 more battles coming.
“Just one big battle won today. Saturday’s going to be an even bigger one against a side that’s also fighting for their survival.”
