Joey Barton delivers Bristol Rovers transfer update and view on potential Oxford red

Joey Barton wanted more protection from the referee for his Bristol Rovers players in their 1-0 win over Oxford United.

The Gas won by a single goal after John Marquis opened his account for the club in the 34th minute, as the West Country outfit claimed their second win of the season.

Goalscorer Marquis however was involved in a number of flashpoints during the game including a potential dismissal for the visitors.

Centre-back Elliot Moore was yellow carded for grabbing the shirt of Marquis before the pair both fell to the floor. The U’s defender could be seen pushing the goalscorer’s face which was in the view of both dugouts.

Referee Oliver Langford however deemed Moore’s involvement as worthy of a yellow card only and he remained on the pitch for the remainder of the match.

From the view of Rovers boss however, he believed that Oxford’s game plan was to unsettle the Rovers players and delivered his verdict on the potential red card.

He said in his post-match press conference: “I’m surprised. Usually if you make contact with somebody’s face you leave the pitch.

“The referee obviously has a better view of it than me.

“They clearly tried to get under our skin. There were some late challenges certainly on Sam Finley in the first-half.

“Clearly part of their plan today was to get some of our lads to react and get somebody sent off. They roughed us up and got amongst us but again I think our lads showed incredible discipline.

“There’s no problem for us, we’re no shrinking violets. The lad in the middle today has reffed in the Championship, I felt he could have protected our players a little bit.”

As is a common theme whilst the transfer window remains open, Barton was questioned about any potential transfer business.

There had been a deal in the pipeline for a player that was close to moving to the Memorial Stadium, however that deal is dead in the water.

The belief from the Rovers camp is that a deal was closer than what was actually happening and instead, the negotiations have saw them consider other options.

He said: “No. It is going to go down the last embers of the window, that is just the way it is.

“If we can get things done before that we will. We thought we were further down the track on something the other day but we have decided to completely change tack now because people are taking the p**.

“We will just move targets, you try and strike a deal with people but again some people think they are playing Championship manager at times.

“What is fair value? We will change course on that and go on a different direction. We will add quality when and where we can. We won’t get our pants pulled down by anyone. Those days are gone.”