Joey Barton: Bristol Rovers are in form at 'right part of race'

Bristol Rovers' Antony Evans celebrates scoring his ninth goal of the season against Barrow

Bristol Rovers manager Joey Barton said his team are coming into form "at the right part of the race" as they push for the League Two play-offs.

Rovers' 1-0 win over Barrow extended their unbeaten run to six matches to make them the league's in-form team.

The results have propelled them up to ninth in the table, two points away from the play-off places.

"We're coming into form at the right part of the race," Barton told BBC Radio Bristol.

"You want to be coming into form when the finishing line is in sight. You want to be moving through the field.

"As I say, we've still got 13 fences to go over, it is the Grand National in many regards, a League Two 46-game campaign."

Bristol Rovers were relegated to League Two at the end of last season and began the 2021-22 campaign poorly, losing five of their opening eight league fixtures to see them languishing near the bottom three.

But a steady run of form since the start of the year, with four wins and two draws in their past six matches, has seen Barton's side move up the table and sit only two points behind seventh-placed Mansfield in the final play-off spot.

The team's seven wins in 2022 is already equal to the number they claimed in the league during the first four-and-a-half months of the season.

"We're finding different ways to win games of football at the minute. A young, hungry group in there, got depth in the squad, players coming back to fitness," added Barton.

"I'm looking forward to the last three months of the season."

Barton took over as Rovers manager in February last year and brought in 18 new players over the summer and January transfer windows.

Among them are centre forward Aaron Collins and midfielder Antony Evans, who have 19 league goals between them this season and have scored in eight of the past 12 matches.

Evans scored the winner against Barrow in the 81st minute.

"The lads are on a learning curve, winning games accelerates that because it brings you a confidence which always helps you play better. But also the lads are starting to understand a lot more what you're looking for," said Barton.

"That's an important three points for us [against Barrow].

"We controlled the game for pretty much 80-odd minutes. In League Two that hasn't always been the case for us and, as I say, we're getting better. We're getting stronger but we're also finding different ways to win with different personnel."