Makeshift forwards are impressing boss Barton
JOEY Barton has praised the unselfishness of Sam Nicholson and Antony Evans to play out of position for Bristol Rovers ahead of tonight’s FA Cup clash with Oxford.
The Piarates welcome the Us to the Memorial Stadium for a first-round replay after coming from behind twice to secure a 2-2 draw at the Kassam Stadium ten days ago.
The cup tie comes with Rovers enjoying their best period of the season so far, with successive wins over Harrogate and Northampton injecting life into their campaign.
And much of that recent success has come with the team playing with a makeshift frontline due to injuries for Brett Pitman, Harvey Saunders and Leon Clarke. Ahead of tonight’s game, Barton singled out Evans – a free agent signing after leaving German club Paderborn this summer – and Nicholson – arguably Rovers’ best player last season for praise.
“It’s been out of necessity, but on Saturday Sam Nicholson epitomised our team at the minute,” Barton said.
“He’s a flair player, a player who wants the ball, and if they are working for the team in the way they are, then that embarrasses everybody else who doesn’t have Sammy’s technical ability and flair to make sure they match his running.
“Antony has been a real shining light in our team, along with one or two others, and they just give you that match-winning factor.
“They look like they can produce a moment of magic to win a match at any moment in a game, whether that’s Evo’s set-piece quality or Sammy’s ability to just run away from you like you don’t exist.
“Really pleased with the two guys and it’s not easy when balls are coming in and you’ve got a 6ft 3in centre-half breathing down your neck, but they compete and they fight for the team. They get their rewards, as Antony did on Saturday with the match-winner.”
Barton and Oxford chief Karl Robinson are longtime friends and the latter is yet to beat the Rovers boss in seven competitive matches as a player and a manager.
Robinson has hinted at making changes, with former Rovers forward Matty Taylor – who scored once and hit the woodwork twice in the first game – among the players who could miss out. Regardless, the Rovers boss is expecting a tough strategic test against the League One promotion contenders.
“It will be a really good cup tie,” Barton added. “Robbo and I are good mates and I’m looking forward to it. It’s a good distraction.
“They are a good possessionbased side, so you have to accept there are times you won’t have the ball because of the quality of players. You have to have different strategies to face them. Speaking to our lads after the game at their place, our lads preferred it. They said it was a lot more like a League One game because we had the ball and we could play a bit and they had the ball and try to play a bit, rather than having a scrap for it and the randomness of a League Two fixture.”