Evans aims dig at Barton over his 'wind-up' Sunderland comments

Gillingham boss Steve Evans has delivered a glowing verdict on Sunderland – having insisted he won’t go on the ‘wind-up’ like Fleetwood Town boss Joey Barton.

Barton has hit the headlines several times this season for his

– with his

But Evans, who brings his Gillingham side to Wearside this weekend, says he ‘totally respects’ Phil Parkinson’s men, and won’t be drawn into a war of words like former Newcastle United man Barton.

“I totally respect them,” he said.

“I’m not Joey Barton, who’s got a big connection with Newcastle and wants to wind up Sunderland supporters.

“Everything about Sunderland Football Club is fantastic.

“The stadium, the training ground, the owners, the professionalism, the fan base is incredible.

“We’ll go there Saturday and there’ll be 34 or 35,000 people and they’ve got a real chance of going up under an experienced manager in Phil

Parkinson, who I’ve got a lot of time for.

“It’s fair to say when we played them earlier in the season they were going through a little bit of a transition, but now they’ve found a system, a way of playing, and they’ve strengthened in January.”

The Gills enter the clash as one of the form sides in League One, having lost just once in their last 16 games.

Indeed, they’ve already beaten Sunderland twice this season, but Evans is expecting a far tougher assignment when his troops head to the Stadium of Light this time around.

“It’ll be tough for us, but my players have not shirked a challenge all season,” he added.

"We're going to go to the Stadium of Light and try and win the game. It would be senseless of us to try and nick a point, that doesn't help us.

“Sunderland have been incredible at home.

“Playing against them at the Stadium of Light gives you a real buzz.

“We will take good support; it will be a tough afternoon but we have a nice mixture of experience and youth. We will do our very best."