Head coach Joey Barton sat down with the media ahead of his side’s trip to the Crown Oil Arena to face Rochdale in a Sky Bet League One fixture on Saturday.
Barton – who has seen his side face off against Premier League opposition recently – will be looking to get back to winning ways as they travel to Greater Manchester over the weekend after last week’s narrow 1-0 loss to AFC Wimbledon.
Here is what Joey had to say in his pre-match press conference:
On Rochdale…
“BBM (Brian Barry-Murphy) has got them playing, they are adventurous, and it will be an entertaining game.
“I think it’s two good footballing sides who will trade with each other. Our strength is in the offensive part of the team and we’ll be setting up to go and score goals and win a game of football.
“The way that they try to play is quite similar so it won’t be a 0-0 or a dull encounter, they’ve got some young players in their side and so have we so I’m really looking forward to it.”
On key players returning…
“Paddy’s been our top goal scorer for the last two years, and you’d probably bet on him being there, or thereabouts, again. Especially with some of the attacking players, we have added to the group.
“We’d always want Paddy landing on those chances in the box because he’s got that instinct of putting the ball in the back of the net so it’s really pleasing to have him available. Not only for his goals but also for his work rate and endeavour.
“When you don’t have him and Wes Burns, you lose some of your most consistent players so I’m delighted to have them both in contention for this weekend because you always want your best players available for selection.”
On the squad…
“We’ve got a couple of players back in training, whether they are going to be able to start games and play 90 minutes is a different matter, but we are getting a couple of bodies back.
“We’ve got [Paddy] Madden and [Wes] Burns back and everyone, beyond that, is fine so we can’t complain.
“Hopefully, we can get some of the longer-term players, like Jordan Rossiter, back in the equation soon as they are progressing really well on the grass – hopefully it’s not long until they are back in contention.”
Watch Joey’s interview and more on our iFollow HERE.