Bristol Rovers manager Joey Barton believes Sunderland fans 'secretly' like him as the Black Cats look to clinch their first victory over him as a manager today.
Former Newcastle United midfielder Barton has had a feisty relationship with Sunderland supporters down the years, stemming back to his time in the black-and-white stripes of the Magpies.
The Wearsiders never got the better of the ex-Manchester City star during his time as Fleetwood boss, but Lee Johnson's side are favourites to pick up the three points in today's League One clash at the Memorial Stadium,
There will be no fans inside the ground today, of course, something which Barton misses as the nation continues under lockdown.
But asked why there was such a high level of antagonism between himself and the Sunderland faithful, he put it down the famous North East derby rivalry.
"There's a real healthy rivalry between the two clubs," Barton said. "I didn't realise it was as passionate as it was until I signed for Newcastle, and you realise it goes a long way back into the history of the local area and there's a lot of local pride at stake.
"I'm someone who's always been very vocal about what I feel about Newcastle United as a football club, what I felt about Newcastle as a town. I love the area and the people and still enjoy going back up there at every opportunity.
"The flip side of that is Sunderland's rivalry with them - they don't like me and they’ve made that clear every time I’ve played and managed there.
"You can tell by the way they've celebrated last-minute equalisers. They haven't beaten me yet and they'll be licking their chops and thinking this is time we can put one across Barton because he's got a side near the bottom of the table and they'll be expecting to turn up and do us five, six, seven, eight nine-nil, the Sunderland fans.
"And if they don't Lee Johnson is under pressure because they'll want my head on a platter.
"That's part of it, that's what we do - you've got to love 'noising' the fans up, especially when they're trying to do it to you. You've got to use the camaraderie to drive performance.
“But, deep down, I think there’s a side to them that secretly does like me and they would one day probably want me to manage Sunderland. But they just can’t say that out loud because they know I’d reject them.
“As much as they want me, I could never do it because my heart is black and white. I love Newcastle.”
