Joey Barton believes that the fortunes of his Bristol Rovers side are “starting to turn” after earning a 1-0 win at Harrogate

Substitute Nick Anderton scored the only goal of the game after the hour mark to seal a rare away win for the 16th-placed Pirates, who were relegated from League One last season.

Having previously failed to claim an away win since last December, Rovers have now picked up eight points from their last four matches on their travels, and Barton is seeing signs of improvement.

“For us, it’s a case of continually trying to move forward and better the group,” the Rovers manager said.

“We’ve gone from not winning away from home for a year to being unbeaten in four on the road.

“For me, there’s signs of progress. We will keep building slowly but surely. It is starting to turn and there are good signs off the field as well as on the field.”

As well as ending Harrogate’s run of 10 league matches without a defeat at home, Rovers also earned a clean sheet against an attack that was the division’s best before kick-off.

“We were coming here against a team in form who’ve had a great start to the season,” Barton added.

“They’ve been free-scoring, so to limit them to very, very few chances, that will do no end of good for our group.

“I’m really pleased for Nick Anderton because he’s had a tough time. The lads are all delighted for him.

“It was a real team performance and I’m happy we got the job done and could take the three points back to Bristol.”

The 64th-minute winner from Anderton was a scrappy finish after Rovers kept the ball alive in the box.

On the game’s decisive moment, Harrogate boss Simon Weaver rued: “We’ve watched the goal back and we’ve got eight defenders in the box against four attackers and we’ve ended up running out of the line but running away.

“It’s hard to fathom that we’re short of that defensive instinct at the minute.

“It’s the first real test of the season because the last few games haven’t gone our way.

“We’ve got to show more personality now to fight back because we back these boys to the hilt and they’ve got us in a great position.

“It’s the first time now that we’ll see a test of their character.”

Rovers ended the first half with two strong clear-cut chances and Weaver was disappointed with his side’s reply after the interval.

“That edge to our game was missing throughout the team,” he said.

“After half-time, we didn’t come out firing and it’s almost as if, if we’re not in front we’re worrying about the back door not being secure enough.

“We were timid in that response.”