James Gibbons says it will be business as usual when the Bristol Rovers defender takes on his former club Port Vale at the Mem on Saturday, but he has shared some insights with his manager Joey Barton about his former employers.
Gibbons joined Rovers in the summer after spending more than a decade at Vale Park, coming through the academy before passing a century of appearances for the first team. His final appearance for the club came in May's League Two play-off final, winning 3-0 against Mansfield Town at Wembley.
The 24-year-old, born and raised in Stoke-on-Trent, has great memories at his hometown club, but he is fully focussed on getting the job done for the Gas. True to Barton's philosophy, he says he and his teammates have spent much of their time preparing in their own way, rather than concerning themselves too much with the opposition.
"It's probably the first fixture you look for after switching clubs, but I'm a Gas player now and it's another game for us, it's another game for them," Gibbons said. "Players come and go and I'm just another player who came and went.
"Obviously, there is a bit more on it with the time I was there, but I will be looking to get the job done on Saturday and get another three points.
"It's the same as any other game for me. You do the same things in the week and the same things in preparation for the game. The only difference is it's against my old club, but all the preparation I've done this week is the same as the week before the last game.
"I'll leave the talking and being pally until after the game. I'm there to do a job and I have mates at other clubs I play against and it's the same with them. I will still be playing my same-old game against them like it was any other club and they will probably know that themselves with the type of player I am."
Analysis has become a huge part of the professional game, with Rovers' department of experts delving deep into the strengths and weaknesses of both the Gas and their opposition week after week.
But there is still a place for Gibbons to share a bit of inside information from his time playing under Gas legend Darrell Clarke in the Potteries, with Vale keeping much of the squad that got them promoted to the third tier.
"I gave my input on what I know of the lads that are still there," he said. "They have obviously got a lot of new players as well that I don't know much about and that's down to the analysis team, but I have given my input of some of their individuals and the way we played last year and what we looked to do.
"But it's not about worrying about them too much, it's about how we can play, how we can implement our game onto them and make them worry about us."
Gibbons enjoyed working under Clarke, and he believes there are some similarities in the demands both he and Barton place on their players.
"He got a good squad of lads together and he's kept with the majority from last year," the defender said. "He knew the types of players he wanted and the style he wanted to play and he did a good job with that with his backroom team, so credit goes to him for that.
"They want to kick on again this year and they're in a good position in the league. So are we, so I'm looking forward to a good game of football.
"Both managers demand standards, especially here. The gaffer bangs on all day, all training (session). People have got to drive their own standards.
"We've got a good group of lads here and training is really good every day. It comes from the lads driving their own standards and each other and I think that is why the quality of training here is so good. Some of the performances this season back that up.
"The standard of every position on the pitch, it's got numbers, strength in depth and lads don't want to lose their shirts to people on the fringe of the team because the competition for places is massive at the minute. That's down to us driving our own standards and pushing each other."
Right-back Gibbons suffered a foot injury in the second week of the season that ruled him out for nine League One games. He has featured in all nine since his return, although he has not started the past two games against Bolton Wanderers and Peterborough United.
With Barton moving away from a back four of late, a strong back three of Bobby Thomas, James Connolly and Lewis Gibson has started to emerge. The shift in shape, so far, has meant Scott Sinclair has taken up the right wing-back role, leaving Gibbons to play from the bench.
He will give his all for the team in that capacity, but he is desperate to regain his starting spot and he is prepared to play wherever he is needed to do just that.
"I had a conversation with Mangs (first-team coach Andy Mangan) the other week about it," he said. "I'm comfortable playing both sides as a wing-back. I played a lot for Vale last year on the left side.
"As long as I get minutes – and that's what I want to do, get back in the side and get minutes – it doesn't matter where I play, I just want to be on the pitch."
With 20 games played, Rovers find themselves 15th in the table, largely thanks to an impressive run in the past 10 games, losing just once. With confidence building and partnerships forming, Gibbons and his teammates are determined to climb through the mid-table shuffle over the festive period.
He said: "As a new side coming into the league, we didn't want to just be one of those teams that survive; we want to be more than that. We want to implement our style of play onto the teams already in this league and that last block of 10 games was really good for us.
"We lost one out of the 10 league games. We try to better each block and we had a sit down earlier this week to discuss where we think we're at as a group.
"We think we're in a good place, but we still think we can be better and get better at certain aspects. Once all of that pieces together, we'll be a good side.
"The Christmas period is probably the busiest of the year. The games come thick and fast and the squad is needed all over the place, but we want to be the team that really kicks on in this period with the standards of training, not letting them slip over the Christmas period.
"We've got a strict timeline for our training here and the lads are happy with it because we want to get better, but hopefully, this Christmas period will be a successful one for us."
The Gas are a significantly stronger force now than they were when the season started in late July, with a long list of injuries in the past, but many who watch Barton's team week in, week out would say they do not have the points that recent performances have deserved.
With five draws and four wins in the past 10 games, capitalising on more of their opportunities to win will be key to their progress, although Gibbons says the process of becoming harder to beat is an indicator of the character in the group. He has backed the Gas to take the next step by converting more draws into victories.
"We've only lost one and the most important thing with the draws is we haven't been losing games," he said. "If you can't win them, certainly don't lose them, don't give teams a leg up to beat us.
"We've come back from two-goal deficits in the past 10 games and saved a point, but if we can turn the draws into wins you start climbing the table.
"But I think the most important thing for us is those draws aren't losses when sometimes they can easily turn into that when you're not playing your best football and it shows the character of the group we've got."
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