Bristol Rovers defender Jack Hunt has thanked ex-Pirates boss Joey Barton following the managers departure from the club last month.
Barton was the man that signed Hunt following the expiration of his contract at Sheffield Wednesday in the summer, and the full back has quickly become an integral part of the Rovers backline.
Hunt has a habit of popping up in the opposition half, and it was his cross that was inadvertently sent into his own net by Carlisle defender Samuel Lavelle in Rovers’ 1-0 win on Saturday.
Andy Mangan has taken temporary control of the side since Barton’s dismissal, and Hunt was quick to praise both the job that Mangan is doing, and what Barton achieved at the club.
“He’s (Mangan) got his own ideas on how he delivers things, but on record I want to say thank you to Joey,” Hunt said.
“He brought me to the club and is the reason I moved to the club, I was sorry to see him go but I’ve seen a lot of managers in my time and Joey has as a player as well. It’s completely out of my control, all I can do is say thank you to Joey, I enjoy working with Mangs, and we’ll see what happens in the future.”
In his time covering as manager, Mangan has led Rovers to three wins and a draw in four matches. Currently, the Gas sit in 10th place in the League One table, just four points off the play-off places, and Hunt couldn’t hide how pleased he was with the positive strides the team are making.
“It does (excite me) because we’ve flip flapped formation today, and we haven’t done much work on it, we haven’t had much of a chance with different personnel available of late, but it’s definitely another addition to our armour that we can do that.
“There’s still a lot of work to do moving forward, if Mangs gets the job then I’m sure he’s the man who will work on that with us. But, I’m sure he’s said it you you as well, we’ve just got to take it game by game and keep moving forward.”
