Bristol Rovers promotion bid fuelled by Jurgen Klopp’s words and inner-city rivalry reveals Barton

Joey Barton says the possibility of a making a Bristol derby a thing again is a driving motivation in his quest for promotion success at Bristol Rovers.

Barton a fortnight ago claimed that the Gas could fill out the 27,000 capacity stadium at Ashton Gate following another sell out at the Memorial Stadium.

The 39-year-0ld has Rovers in a strong position to bounce back from their relegation from League One with a play-off spot secure and an outside chance of the automatics.

Should his side be successful this season they would be just a division off of the Robins with Barton’s ambition not restricted of another promotion campaign.

“I was intent on getting that inner city rivalry going again,” said Barton in his pre-match press conference ahead of the visit of Scunthorpe.

“Bristol City are miles ahead of us but it would be nice to get the derby going in our city.

“If we can get up this year it gets us one step away from them. For me that was the dream coming in here and igniting the blue half of Bristol.

“We’ve certainly lit a little bit of a spark now and we’re hoping that turns into a big roaring bonfire in the next couple of years.”

Barton, who pays close attention to the goings on of both Everton and Liverpool in his city, has drawn motivation from the red side of the city.

Liverpool reached the Champions League final this week and are on course for a quadruple with an FA Cup final to come, whilst they are still involved in the Premier League race.

The German’s words has resonated with him on a slightly smaller scale with Barton believing Rovers themselves are in the early stages of one of their successful spells in their history.

He said: ‘I’ve seen Jurgen Klopp’s words this week, they feel they are at the start of a really successful period again for the football club.

“I genuinely believe relative to the level that we are at we are in the same slot. It is only a matter of time before we are getting regular seasons chasing promotion.

“For me that is what I have come here to be part of. It was tough getting going but there’s a reason it hasn’t been done before.

“It’s because it wasn’t straight forward to do it but we have finally turned the ship around.

“Everybody is pulling in the right direction now. To see those scenes after we scored the fourth goal at Rochdale was priceless. It’s what you coach for.

“Without the fans we’re another run-of-the-mill fourth tier club, that’s all we we would be. With the Gasheads and the numbers that come it does give us that X Factor.

“I think over the next coming years the English pyramid will sit up and take notice.”

But firstly, there is still a job at hand for Rovers to be successful and fate is out of their own hand as the final day of the regular season draws closer.

The blue half of Bristol must defeat already relegated Scunthorpe United at a sold out Mem, whilst hope for a slip up from Northampton Town.

Northampton are in pole position in third place and only need to beat Barrow, whilst hope there isn’t a thrashing of 6-0 of Scunthorpe.

Scunthorpe will finish rock bottom of the division and are 11 points adrift of nearest placed Oldham. Their last win came back in early February against Walsall and since then they have lost 11 of their last 15 matches.

“We know we’ve got a team in Scunthorpe who will be proud. They will want to go out of the Football League putting on a good show.

“With a lot of young kids there who are starting out in their careers. We expect a physical test and they will want to do as well as they can for their club.

“First and foremost it’s about us winning the game. It would be the 23rd win of the season which gets us to the 80 point mark.

“If we are to give ourselves a maximum chance then we must win the game.

“It’s five goals between us and Northampton, if we can create opportunities. We know we can create chances against them.

“Northampton still have to go to Barrow. It’s a tricky place but I would think they would win there, I would be surprised if they don’t.

Salford showed the other day there’s no easy points in this league and Phil Brown has been a Premier League manager.

“He has done really well at lots of clubs, he’s trying to figure out his squad for next year and he will want to give a good performance in their last home game.

“You have to think Northampton are going to win there so we need to make sure we win first and foremost.

“If we have the opportunity to win and free wheel we’ll go for it because we want to get that last automatic spot.”