Joey Barton has dismissed any suggestion he will use Tuesday's EFL Trophy quarter-final clash with South West rivals Plymouth Argyle to rest and rotate; the Bristol Rovers boss says this one is personal.
Tuesday's tie at the Mem will be the third time the Gas and Argyle have met this season, with rivalry brewing between the coaching units and players. Barton stoked the fire before a pulsating 2-2 draw between the sides in October, going public with his dislike for Argyle director of football Neil Dewsnip, adding yet more spice to a game with many Liverpudlian connections on and off the pitch.
Following that game, relations between the clubs have soured further with Rovers first-team coach Andy Mangan charged by The FA following an allegation of homophobic language made by a Plymouth staff member. Mangan strongly denies the accusations, which centre around a half-time incident outside the home dressing room, where Rovers allegedly noticed a person filming without permission.
The allure of a Wembley final, which is just two wins away, is motivation enough for Rovers to take this much-maligned competition seriously, but Barton says he would also love to get one over on the League One leaders.
"We cannot bear Plymouth, so we will be taking everything Plymouth-related with full contact and full strength," he said.
"I’ve no interest (in Plymouth's team selection). Plymouth will be strong, whichever way they go. They had a good, scrapping point by the looks of it against Bolton on Saturday and they’ve signed four players already.
"As you would if you’re them, you’ve got to get your business done early. For me, I think there is a lot more value at the back end of the window.
"They will be buoyed and strengthened by that and I think Finn Azaz is returning for injury, so it’s a great game for us and we’ve got to go to their stadium at some point later on in the season.
"But the way the game finished last time when we were 2-0 down at half time and finished a lot stronger, we will take a lot of confidence from that and I’m hoping on Tuesday night we get a decent crowd in because we’re only a couple of games away from getting to Wembley."
Argyle have made four signings already since the January window opened last week, with defender Saxon Earley, midfielders Callum Wright and Jay Matete and attacker Ben Waine joining the Pilgrims.
Rovers and Argyle first met in September in the opening group stage fixture in the tournament, drawing 1-1 in a sparsely-populated Home Park before the hosts won the bonus point shootout.
Barton's side would finish second in the group, but they have beaten Colchester United and MK Dons en route to the quarter-finals.
Unlike the low-key clash in Devon earlier in the season, Tuesday's meeting promises to have a more intense atmosphere, with Plymouth selling out their initial allocation of 300 tickets before requesting more, and Barton hopes his team are backed by plenty of Gasheads.
He is the first to admit he is not keen on the format of the competition, but having navigated to this stage, he does not want to let the chance of a Wembley final slip.
"It’s a competition that can allow you to blood youngsters and we’ve used that at previous clubs to give them exposure," he added.
"This year, it’s been quite strange. We’ve been booted everywhere by everyone we’ve played in it. It was frustrating in the early part because we were picking up injuries that were needless and I think that was due some of the exposure novice referees get in the competition.
"Hopefully, that settles down now because teams are two or three games away from getting to a Wembley final.
"It would be nice to take the Gasheads on a trip to the home of English football and we have to beat the team that is top of the tree, technically the hardest team that is left in the competition. But if you want to go to Wembley and have a big day out, you’ve got to knock off good sides."
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