Joey Barton will be going trophy hunting of a different kind over the next week as the Bristol Rovers manager sees this next trio of imposing fixtures as a chance to make a statement in the division and test the fortitude and character of his young squad.
Rovers host Plymouth Argyle at the Mem on Saturday followed by a trip to Hillsborough on Wednesday to take on third-placed Sheffield Wednesday in a game live on Sky Sports, with the trilogy then completed by a visit to Derby County next weekend.
They are marquee matches, and a reminder of the step up in gravitas from League Two to League One, but with five straight wins behind them in all competitions, and confidence surging through the squad, Barton sees each game as an opportunity.
On a very basic level, three points would continue to elevate them up the standings, having risen to 12th following this reassuring run through October, but they can also enable Rovers to display exactly what they are about.
Win, lose or draw, Rovers won’t be treating them like it, as such, but they are free hits to an extent, and arriving so early in the season, the mood at The Quarters this week has been one of excitement, not trepidation, as may have been the case a month or so ago when the Gas were struggling for points.
“The biggest teams in the division and some big scalps to take but I see that as an opportunity to go and get a big massive moose head and stick it on your wall,” Barton said. “If we go to Hillsborough and win or Pride Park and win, and if we win three games this week, that is a big step in the right direction for our group and our football club.
“We know that is going to be a tough task because Plymouth sit top of the table and deservedly so, obviously Sheffield Wednesday and the cauldron of Hillsborough and the fact it’s on Sky is quite novel for our boys, and then Pride Park, which is probably the most intimidating atmosphere if that’s packed and they’re behind the team; it’s as good an atmosphere that you’ll find in League One.
“I think we’ll find out a lot about our group after the dust has settled on this week. We’ve got our own internal expectations and the recent results profile takes the nervousness and the angst out of it because confidence is higher than it was before.
“I think, for us, we can go scalp-hunting. It’s a great opportunity for us to go and showcase what the team is about and what our principles are about and I always believe iron sharpens iron and you want to play against the best players in the division, you want to play against the biggest teams.
“I think proper players rise to that challenge. If you’re a proper player, you want to pit yourself against the best and on Saturday, Plymouth are the best. Anyone can have an opinion on that, but Plymouth sit top of the table after the games played and deservedly so and it’s a chance to see how far we’ve come in a short space of time.”
Barton admits, as a player, he relished such occasions, more on an individual level than a club one because Manchester City and Newcastle United were, in may cases, Premier League heavyweights in their own right, even when they went up against the successful sides of the 2000s, Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal.
Barton’s battle was always against his opposite number who invariably would be of a higher-profile and reputation, and it represented a challenge but also an opportunity to make a name for himself.
The Rovers manager doesn’t believe he has to necessarily instil that sort of attitude in his players, it’s there already, the process is about drawing it out of them and marrying that emotional approach alongside the myriad tactical instructions and game plan that will come with each of the three games.
“You’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain,” Barton added. “Plymouth, they sit at the top and everyone will be taking shots at them because everybody will want to beat the top team.
"For us, it almost flips. The last few weeks from having to win games and get results, because we were in the bottom four, and then all of a sudden we get a good run and then, okay, not everybody expects us to win three games this week but if we went unbeaten it would be a fantastic week.
“If we’re not successful and we only have an okay week then, so be it, we’ll have a great benchmark for where we are in the division.
“But, as a player, I loved it. Patrick Vieira, he was a World Cup winner, here was a chance to show that not only I can compete with him, but get my hands on him and cause him problems. So I saw that as having enormous amounts to gain.
“And if he dusts you, well, it’s Patrick Vieira, I’m only a scruff, he should keep the ball. So I always looked at it that way, everything is always an opportunity. That’s me. Everything is an opportunity, not a threat.
“That’s what you’re trying to teach them or prise it out of them. My belief as a person is that most people have all the tools but they don’t know how to access them, so great teachers, great mentors, across all of our life journeys, teach us by showing them to us or prising that out of them. I believe everyone is capable of greatness and your job as a coach, or as a person, is to coax that out of them.”
SIGN UP: To receive our free Rovers newsletter, bringing you the latest from the Mem
READ NEXT:
