Barton hails ‘professional’ Clarke-Harris after failed transfer

LONDON (CMC):

BRISTOL ROVERS manager Joey Barton praised Jamaica striker Jonson Clarke-Harris for the way he has conducted himself after a failed transfer to the English League 1 side earlier this month.

The 29-year-old was transfer-listed after League 1 club Peterborough United, for whom he plays, agonisingly missed out on promotion to the Championship.

Clarke-Harris was linked with a number of clubs before Rovers swooped in on deadline day in a deal worth 800 000 pounds sterling.

Once Peterborough agreed to the transfer, Clarke-Harris drove to training ground of Rovers to undergo medical testing and sign the necessary paperwork.

The deal unravelled in the final minutes of the transfer window when Rovers failed to submit the documents to the English Football League on time.

“He’s been really professional in handling the disappointment of the move and getting back to business for his club,” Barton said on BBC Radio Bristol.

“From our perspective, we wanted to make that deal happen, from my side anyway, and nothing changes. He will want to do well for his team and himself, and we will have to cancel him out and stop the threat. It would have been a huge investment for us,” said Barton ahead of a clash between the two where Peterborough ran out 2-0 winners yesterday.

DISAPPOINTMENT BEHIND HIM

Clarke-Harris put the disappointment behind him and scored a brace against Mansfield Town in midweek, in addition to the two goals he has scored against Cheltenham Town and Bolton Wanderers since the transfer failed to materialise.

While Clarke-Harris did not score against Rovers yesterday, goals from Archie Collins in the 26th minute and David Ajoboye in the 47th made the points safe.

“They are multifaceted to their attack, it’s not just Jonson Clarke-Harris, they are a really good build-up team, with Kwame Poku and Ephron Mason-Clark they have got some really talented lads in behind them who can cause a lot of problems,” Barton had said.

“We have to be a really good version of ourselves on Saturday if we are going to take maximum points.

“After the first five minutes, the Jonson Clarke-Harris saga will be parked up, it will be our strongest team trying to beat Peterborough’s strongest team for a valuable three points in the League 1 campaign.”

Peterborough climbed to sixth in the standing on 17 points, the same as Bolton, who have played a game less, while Rovers are 12th on 12 points.