Joey Barton full of praise for Peterborough United, but he believes his Bristol Rovers side can beat tham in the FA Cup

Joey Barton. Photo: Pete Norton Getty Images.

Barton believes his League Two side have ‘as fair a chance’ as Posh of reaching the fourth round, but admits he admires the work done by opposition chairman and manager Darragh MacAnthony and Darren Ferguson.

Rovers will be playing their first game for 28 days, while Posh have not played since December 18, a spell of 21 days.

“It’s not an ideal situation not playing for 28 days,” Barton told the Bristol Post today (January 7). “But fortunately Peterborough have suffered a similar fate.

Posh officials, from left, Darren Ferguson, Darragh MacAnthony and Barry Fry.

“I think we have as fair a chance as Peterborough, albeit we play a Championship level opponent, but there is no pressure on the lads. We can enjoy the game and use it as a spingboard for the league.

“The FA Cup is great and we want to have a great run in it. Hopefully we can progress and win the game and see what’s beyond that, but with the lay-off we’ve had, you’ve got to be realistic.

“Peterborough have been on an upward trajectory since Darren Ferguson came back in. We (Fleetwood Town) were in the play-offs the year they missed out on points per game and I feel they were very harshly done to.

“But they had that axe to grind and they used that as a great springboard to mount another successful campaign. It rewarded them and they’ve got into the Championship.

“They’ve got a great business model. They always buy players. They always speculate on players they can turn a profit on and they tend to do really well with the front side of the team. I always think they build, almost like Brentford on a lesser scale, a team that amplifies the attacking qualities of players and gives them a chance to capitalise on that from a financial standpoint.

“I think a lot of clubs at our level could use the insights of Peterborough to move their clubs forward.

“They have set the bar for a lot of similar-sized, similar resourced clubs.

“They are a club we should aspire to follow into those top echelons of League One consistently and then when you get a good cycle, get sides into the Championship.

“Their challenge is staying in there, but they are competitive in a tough league.”