Bristol Rovers hold League Two title aspirations reveals Barton as pressure mounts on faltering Forest Green

Bristol Rovers manager Joey Barton believes that catching league leaders Forest Green isn’t out of the realms of possibility.

On Tuesday, the Gas for the first time reached the top seven of League Two, which at the end of the season would at least give them a play-off spot.

Only seven points separate 10th-placed Mansfield Town and second-placed Northampton Town, in what is a tightly contested battle for promotion.

Ten wins in the 16 games they’ve played in the league this year have seen them move from 17th to just two points off of the top three.

But with only nine points between leaders Forest Green, as well as a match at the Memorial Stadium to come next month.

“We’re coming on with a little bit of spurt of late charge which is for me the best way.You see the horse races, you don’t want to be sitting there.

“I think with Forest Green, a few back passages will be twitching like a rabbit’s nose there with what they’ve done previously.

“They’re a really good side but they’ve got to play Mansfield twice and they’ve got to come to the Mem.

“We’ve got everything to gain, we are the dark horses this year. If we get up this year it’ll be an amazing story and achievement. I think if we don’t I’ve got a lot of credibility for the surge and the late run we are on.”

He added: “We can’t lose, we want to get the job done and who knows, Forest Green they’ll feel the breadth of the other teams. Who knows there was a point a while back where we were 20 points behind them and now it’s nine with a game against them.

“The teams in and around us may be looking at them the same. They will be thinking if we can get within a couple of points who knows? The title may still be available for the chasing pack. There are still

“There are eight or nine teams in there who could end up as Champions. It’s Forest Green’s to lose after their great first half of the season. It’s looking like it could be the most exciting race for the League Two title.”

Since the title is still an objective for Rovers, they will need to overcome the task of second-placed Northampton Town at Sixfields on Saturday.

They have struggled on the road against teams in the top seven this season with Newport County a recent example of where they were unable to beat a team around them whilst on their travels.

Rovers defeated Northampton at the Mem in the earlier part of the season, so there is confidence within the camp that a win can come on Saturday.

Barton said: “You get an opportunity to leapfrog or go level with teams who are very close in the table, but if you win on Saturday you’re not promoted, and equally if you lose Saturday you’re season is not over.

“It’s all to play for, but again for us, nothing changes. It is a top-end-of-the-table clash now. The table is so compact behind Forest Green, who are out in front and we’ve got to make sure we turn up and give a great account of ourselves.

“If we do, that’s been enough to take points out of games, and if we don’t then we’ll get what we deserve, which will be nothing.”