Joey Barton admits he will make changes to Bristol Rovers' EFL Trophy second round clash with Colchester United on Wednesday, but he does not want to see his team give up any momentum after an impressive win at the weekend.
The Gas were better than Peterborough United in every department on Saturday and they deservedly claimed a 1-0 win in League One, but as attention turns to the maligned Papa John's Trophy on Wednesday the manager insists he and his players will take the task seriously.
Changes will be made to the starting XI at the JobServe Community Stadium, but Barton has challenged his fringe players to maintain the level of performance set in recent weeks, with the Rovers boss eying a possible Wembley final in April, which would be just three more wins away if the Gas take care of business at Colchester.
"We’ll assess the bodies, but we don’t have a 23s so it won’t be a load of kids," he responded when asked about his team selection plans. "It will be people who have been desperate to be in the first-team picture.
"We want to progress in the competition and it will be a tough tie away from home and we don’t know what their ambition will be, but we don’t want to give up that winning momentum. It’s hard to get it and we had to scrap tooth and nail for it on Saturday and we want to keep that going into Wednesday and Sunday and keep it all season to see what we can do.
"Four games away (from a Wembley final), so we want to take the Gasheads on a ride and we’ll be picking a team to win the game. There will be changes, naturally, but those changes are – as you saw by the lads on the bench and who didn’t make the squad on Saturday – quality players and they will want to be part of what we’re doing here because the club is clearly going places and they have to show that when they get the opportunity.
"The first team on Saturday got the job done. We’ll pick another first team on Wednesday to hopefully get the job done and progress in the cup, and similar on Sunday when we get back here for the second round of the FA Cup."
Ryan Loft was expected to play some part in Rovers' win over Peterborough at the weekend, but the striker was not risked after missing the previous three games with a hamstring injury. Wednesday's trip to Essex could see the six-goal targetman's return.
"He’s got a right chance," Barton added. "Hopefully, he’s alright. Lofty wanted to be on the bench on Saturday but it wasn’t worth the risk and we’ve got good players in Harvey Saunders and John Marquis, who are fit.
"We decided not to take the risk, as tempting as it was, because big Lofty has been superb before he was injured but hopefully he can get a clean bill of health and he’s ready to go on Wednesday night.
"We’ve got Harry Anderson not far away, Paul Coutts is not far away. We are getting some good options and competition in the squad is key for us to stay consistent."
The Gas booked their place in the knockout stages of the competition after finishing second in their group, drawing with Plymouth Argyle and beating Swindon Town and Crystal Palace under-21s. The club earned £25,000 in prize money in the process, plus a £20,000 participation fee, and a further £20,000 in prize money is up for grabs on Wednesday.
Colchester are enduring a tough season, hovering precariously just one place above the League Two relegation zone, but they beat Doncaster Rovers 3-0 on home turf at the weekend and Barton knows from Rovers' stint in the fourth tier that his team will be in for a hard night's work.
"It will be tough, we know from League Two last year," he said. "If we think we’re just going to drop in and flatten everyone, we had a reality check in August, September and October last season, so we know it will be a tough game.
"Last year, Brett Pitman scored a good header but we ended the game with nine men – Trevor Clarke and Cian Harries got sent off.
"We’ll go there in good fettle after Saturday’s result and the run we’re on and we’ll look forward to a good cup tie."
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