Joey Barton gives update on Bristol Rovers’ key defensive duo after pair missed out against Oldham

Josh Grant wasn’t risked tonight and didn’t make the 18-man squad. (Photo by Pete Norton/Getty Images)Josh Grant wasn’t risked tonight and didn’t make the 18-man squad. (Photo by Pete Norton/Getty Images)
Josh Grant wasn’t risked tonight and didn’t make the 18-man squad. (Photo by Pete Norton/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Gas manager was keen not to lose three of his best players so he carefully managed their involvement against Oldham

Bristol Rovers manager Joey Barton says he took precautionary measures after dealing with issues with three of his players in Tuesday’s defeat to Oldham Athletic.

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The Gas boss yielded five changes this evening with a number enforced as a result of carefully managing his players.

Ten minutes before kick-off though he was dealt a blow as Connor Taylor looked uneasy in the warm-up and he was replaced at the last minute by James Connolly, who had initially been made a substitute for the evening.

Fortunately, Taylor was well enough to remain as a spectator at the match but wasn’t risked as a precaution due to the nature of his withdrawal.

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“He just had a bit of a weird rhythm in his heart which he had in the Rochdale game that made him come off,” said Barton to BBC Radio Bristol.

“He’s absolutely fine, his dad was in the stands. It’s not ideal when you name the team and you work on stuff but that is football. It’s no excuse and we have still got to be focused and thankfully he’s absolutely fine.

“It does throw you a bit but we’ve still got more than enough quality to play better than that but tonight we didn’t.”

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Joey Barton took his most attacking player off as he didn’t want to risk a further injury. (Photo by Alex Burstow/Getty Images)Joey Barton took his most attacking player off as he didn’t want to risk a further injury. (Photo by Alex Burstow/Getty Images)
Joey Barton took his most attacking player off as he didn’t want to risk a further injury. (Photo by Alex Burstow/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Changing just shy of half the team backfired as they fell to a 2-1 loss to strugglers Oldham, conceding to the home side in less than a minute.

With a centre-back partnership that hadn’t played alongside one another as well as a makeshift left-back and a returning right-back, there was a lack of leadership amongst the back four who had to get to grips with one another.

There were also issues up the other end of the pitch with influential midfielder Antony Evans replaced in the 24th minute for goal scorer Sam Nicholson.

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Evans had been on the receiving end of a tough tackle on Saturday and struggled to impose himself on the game, owing to a slight problem with his hamstring.

“He was touch-and-go, I spoke to the guys, there was a bit of tightness in his hamstring. He felt absolutely fine this morning and wanted to play. Within ten to fifteen minutes he wasn’t quite right.

“I said to Antony if you’re not 100% once you cross that white line to everybody else you are. Once I saw him limping we can’t risk him being out for six or seven weeks at this point.

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“As a precautionary measure we took him off the pitch. It’s one of those Murphy’s Law where everything that can go wrong apart from their goal getting ruled out. It looked like it hit the bar and went in for me.”

Right-back Josh Grant was one of the five changes that Barton made tonight and he missed the matchday squad altogether.

Grant, who has become an important player for the Gas this season due to his versatility, was replaced by Luca Hoole, who was making his return after suspension.

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The former Chelsea youngster reacted badly to the playing surface at Sutton United and as such was closely monitored by Barton and his medical staff.

“With Josh, we have just to manage his load. For us, he had patellar tendinitis after playing on a relatively hard surface on Saturday.

“We can’t really go Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday-Tuesday, so we’re trying to build that into him. We’ve got to be mindful in the minutes of his load. We really missed Josh tonight.”

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