Joey Barton insists there is no feeling of fear in the Bristol Rovers squad as they enter the defining late stages of their season with promotion on the line.
The Gas enter the Good Friday clash with Salford City at the Mem in sixth place in League Two with five games to play. The Ammies are one of three promotion-chasing sides Barton's Blues face in the final month of the campaign, but Barton has absolute confidence in the work he, his staff and his players are doing as they pursue their goals.
But while the manager believes promotion is required for Rovers to reflect on this as a "successful season", he believes the club is well-placed for future success regardless of how the final five games play out.
"The group are on track," Barton said. "They’ve been on track for a while, they are on the success profile now and it’s a case of just handing it over to the boys.
"It’s not just us. We’re one of a number of teams that are in there, but also we’re quietly confident in what we’ve got in our group. We don’t fear anybody. In the next five games, there are very tough games, but nobody we fear. If we end up getting in the play-offs, there’s nobody we fear. If we get it done automatically and we go up into League One, there’s nobody (we fear).
"The evolution of this team is just becoming stronger and stronger all the time. It would be nice to finish it off with a promotion, but for me, the whole culture of this football club has changed.
"On the back of that, we’ve been successful in terms of us as a group. We’ve turned around a group that were perennial losers. The fact we got relegated and sat in the place in the table we did when we came says a lot about the group that was here beforehand. This group now has changed that momentum around.
"We need to finish the job off because that will represent a successful season, but also if we’re in League Two next year we’re going to be a big hitter in League Two and as good a side if not better because we’ll build. If we’re in League One next year, we’ll do the same, but the name of the game for us is just progress and evolving our team, making our team a better football team, a fitter football team, a more organised team with a better connection with our fanbase.
"Bristol Rovers, that’s all I can control, and we’re coming."
Rovers will have nine-goal playmaker Antony Evans available after a full week of training following a three-game absence with a calf injury, and Barton is delighted with the state of his squad as the Gas prepare for the Easter weekend double-header against Salford and Port Vale
Salford arrive at the Mem after a run of five wins in six games to reach eighth place, within one point of the play-off positions, but the Rovers boss is sure he has the resources to get the job done.
"They’re all ready," Barton said. "Josh (Grant) was involved and played a number of minutes in the last game, and Antony was just a little bit close to it. The fact we had the bodies we had, we didn’t have to risk him because he could be massive for us in the run-in.
"We might have five games left, we might have seven games or we might have eight games, so for us it’s not losing sight of we’ve got to win the next game. There could be a number of games but we have to win the next game.
"We will pick a team tomorrow, the best team we feel to beat Salford and win that game. After the dust has settled on that, we’ll make plans, but as of this moment we can’t take our eyes off the prize.
"We’ve got lots of good players and competition for places is high."
SIGN UP: For our newsletter to receive more exclusive Bristol Rovers content
