Ian Evatt has the utmost respect for Joey Barton with the Bolton Wanderers manager admitting his side must be wary of Bristol Rovers’ attacking threats.
Rovers face the Trotters at the University of Bolton Stadium on Friday night, in a League One fixture brought forward to avoid clashing with the knockout phases of the FA Cup. It’ll be the first meeting on the dugout between Evatt and Barton, and one that the former is relishing.
Such is the weight of Barton’s personality that he acts as a lightning rod for both praise and criticism for Rovers as a club, but with the Gas on a strong run in the division - just one defeat in nine - Evatt has been impressed by the impact he’s made in north Bristol.
“I think he’s calm. I think he’s composed, he’s really intelligent and he’s a very good manager," said Evatt. "We have players that have worked under him at Fleetwood. Matt Gilks played with him at Rangers and Burnley and knows him really well, was under him at Fleetwood and everyone speaks really highly of him.
“Joey’s a winner first and foremost, he wants to win football matches and I don’t know him as well as those guys do personally, but I certainly know he loves the game and he loves what he does and that’s a really important thing.
“I have a huge amount of respect for anyone that sits in a manager’s position because I know how difficult it is. I know the pressures that you come under so anyone who has that role has my utmost respect and Joey is no different to that.”
Although Rovers’ league form has been strong throughout October and November, the Gas will need to get over their FA Cup shock at the hands of Boreham Wood on Sunday, which was notable by the fact they lost to National League opposition but also that they failed to score in a 2-0 defeat.
In their 14 games at the Mem this term, in all competitions, Rovers have only not found the net once before, against Accrington Stanley, since their form turned at the start of October, they’d averaged 1.92 goals a game over the previous 13 fixtures in league and cup.
With Aaron Collins leading League One for goal contributions, and further goalscoring provided by Josh Coburn, Scott Sinclair, John Marquis and Antony Evans from midfield, the Gas possess threats throughout the final third, even with Ryan Loft expected to miss the trip to the north west.
“I think they’ve done really well, they’re a team with some good attacking threats," added the Bolton boss. "I think they’re a team that have some good players, especially at the top end of the pitch.
“We must remember that they’re a newly promoted team and we know how difficult it is being a newly promoted team to have success and sustained success in this division. Joey knows this division really well from being Fleetwood’s manager and they’ve given a really good account of themselves
“I think it’s going to be a really difficult game. They carry a serious goal threat, they’ve been in some high-scoring games so far this season, they create a lot of chances so we’re going to have to play to our best to get the result we want.”
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