The ‘outstanding’ Bristol Rovers unsung hero Joey Barton described as N’Golo Kante like

Joey Barton has hailed the role that Jordan Rossiter played in Bristol Rovers 2-1 win over Cambridge United.

The plaudits went to Josh Coburn and Luca Hoole, who had a claim to the win with their goals against the U’s in either-half.

The ever-reliable Aaron Collins played the assist to Coburn for the match-winning goal, but there role of the supporting cast did not go amiss in the eyes of the manager.

Rossiter put in arguably his best display in the blue and white quarters and was responsible for Rovers seeing the performance out in a work-man like display.

As he tries to build together a consistent run of games, Rossiter delivered a commanding display in the centre of the park and worked tirelessly to secure the win. He made several last ditch challenges and hounded out opponents to get the attacking players higher up the pitch.

As a result, in his post-match press conference, his role was described as similar to two-time Premier League and World Cup winning midfielder N’Golo Kante.

“He’s unbelievable at what he does,” said Barton about Rossiter as he gave his post-match thoughts. He’s very very workman-like in terms of it’s not flashy the stuff he does, he just keeps ticking over.

“He just puts fires out and gets his body in it, similar to what N’Golo Kante kind of does at the top of the game. I think every good team needs a few people like that who put the team above themselves.

“It allows the flair players and the ones that want to express themselves in a creative space to go on and do the job. He’ll go and put a fire out or make a block, stealing the ball back and today I thought he was outstanding.”

Rossiter remained on the pitch for the entirety of the match whilst his midfield partner Sam Finley of whom he worked with at Fleetwood Town - was substituted for another former teammate in Paul Coutts in the 86th minute.

Finley was named as the man-of-the-match by the match sponsors, but had it been announced at the end of that match, it may have been handed to the former Liverpool youngster.

Individual accolades however only mean so much if you’re impacting the team and Finley did along with Rossiter in what looks like a potential fruitful partnership if Rovers can put together a run of form.

Barton said: “Sam is a real creative force for us, he catches your eye because of the quality he shows on the ball and the amount of touches he gets in the game.

“Sometimes the role Jordan does in terms of the unseen work and it doesn’t get missed by the coaching group and rightfully you’ve picked that out today.”