“We are really ambitious” – John Marquis issues warning to the league amid Bristol Rovers’ recent run
Bristol Rovers claimed three straight wins in all competitions as they defeated Charlton Athletic 2-1 at the weekend.
The Gas won at the Valley for the first time in 64 years and they had supersub John Marquis to thank as an 11-minute brace ensured the three points came back with Rovers.
Saturday’s win now means Joey Barton’s side have lost just one of their last 12 League One games despite meeting the likes of Plymouth Argyle, Sheffield Wednesday and Peterborough United.
That impressive run has moved Gas to ninth place in the standings, just three points behind sixth-place Derby County.
Their latest run left many gasheads wondering what this season could become after their triumph on the final day of last season’s second division. Marquis has stated the club is not moving forward and is only focused on the next game, but he says the squad is determined to get clubs in the third division to rise up and get their attention.
Marquis told Bristol Live: “We have a manager who really believes in the group and we’re really ambitious. We think we can surprise a few people.
“After a slow start we always knew we could find form and start surprising a few people and we did. We won here for the first time in 64 years and we’ve had good results in places like Sheffield Wednesday and people haven’t expected that of us this season.
“People looked at us and thought we could just stay up but we have our own goals that we want to achieve and we break the season into small chunks and work our way through them. As long as we can achieve our goals, we’ll see where that takes us.”
Quiz: Have any of these 25 ex-Bristol Rovers players ever played for a London team?
The judgment
Rovers’ recent form has seen them fly under the radar in League One with many teams keeping a closer eye on Wanderers, such as Derby County, Portsmouth and Bolton etc.
However, the Gas should see this as a major asset and allow them to continue their impressive form into the holiday season.
Despite the slow start, Barton’s side seem to have started at the right time and they are a team that no one wants to face right now, especially the top teams. Who knows where the Rovers may end this campaign and likely the first goal was to stay up but the more positives they accumulate the more their focus will shift to a play-off push.
