Barton fired up – and it’s Sunderland next
Burnley’s Joey Barton admits he is fuelled by those who said he was finished following his Rangers nightmare.
And Sunderland are next in the firing line, in tomorrow night’s FA Cup third round replay against Sunderland at Turf Moor. Two months after the midfielder departed Glasgow, Barton marked his first appearance in England’s top flight in 601 days by coming off the bench to score a late free-kick as Burnley defeated Southampton 1-0 on Saturday. “I feel I’m in a better place physically and mentally,” he said. “I’m a lot more hungry because people have written me off. I’m a lot more humble because the club didn’t have to show this faith in me. “It hasn’t been an easy couple of months, as you can imagine. There are not that many players who take that route of going to Scotland, it not working out, and before you know it, it’s January and you’re back playing in the Premier League and scoring the winner. Even I didn’t think that was possible. “Sometimes things just work out funny. Football is a funny old game. “The amount of people who wrote me off after what happened in Scotland...not many people make it back after it not going to plan in the SPL. They don’t really come back and hit the ground running in the Premier League. Fortunately, I don’t really believe in what’s written about me: good, bad or indifferent. I just keep on doing my own thing.” At Turf Moor, Barton was afforded a hero’s return before the stadium erupted when his free-kick found its way past Fraser Forster. “People forget I left this club so they would have been within their rights to boo me,” Barton admitted. “That reception makes me incredibly humble and I was just so proud to come on and receive that. “Sometimes at football clubs,