Ipswich are promotion hopefuls this season, but Kieran McKenna’s side have only managed to pick up one league win from their last seven League One matches.
The Tractor Boys’ experienced a draw last weekend when they took on second placed Sheffield Wednesday at Portman Road, which has left them in third place with 56 points.
McKenna will take his team to the Memorial Stadium tonight to lock horns with Bristol Rovers and Barton believes that Ipswich will be under huge pressure coming into the game.
Barton pointed out that there is an eight-point gap between the second-placed Owls and Ipswich and is of the opinion that the Blues cannot afford to drop any points if they hope to secure automatic promotion.
The Gas’ boss stated that they are a wounded animal after losing four games in a row in the league and warned Ipswich that his side are eager to take down the Blues.
“There’s a little bit of a gap opening up, they can’t afford to slip up at this point”, Barton was quoted as saying by Bristol Live.
“There’s a different pressure on them now than there was when we went to Portman Road earlier on in the season.
“With the greatest of respect, they’re sides where we kind of get a free one, as a newly promoted team, based on their spend.
“We’re in our stadium and we’re a wounded animal and I can’t wait to get in that stadium and get after them because we haven’t won four on the spin, but there’s an absurd mindset that we like to take on the big boys.”
Ipswich won 2-0 when the two teams met in September and will be looking to replicate that performance when they face Barton’s team tonight.
