Joey Barton called for his Bristol Rovers forwards to be more clinical despite seeing the Pirates thrash struggling Stevenage 4-0.

Sam Finley, Elliot Anderson, Harry Anderson and Aaron Collins all scored for the visitors as they ran riot in a dominant display which Barton described as “men against boys”.

The Pirates boss was thrilled with the performance but, after watching his side take 24 shots at goal, he says it could have been even better and wants his attackers to become more ruthless.

“We could have got five, six, seven or eight because we were that good,” he said.

“We should have put more on them so if I’ve got a criticism it’s that we weren’t a little bit more ruthless and furthered the goal difference because it was men against boys in terms of ability and performance.

“Age-wise we are much younger than them but we are trying to play the right way, our big guys were on the bench today so we had to progress it and play through the opposition and it’s not always easy in League Two but again it’s the way I see the game being played, I want to control it.

“It’s nice when on a tricky day your good habits and your good principles reward you.

“The lads are on a good cycle since the new year, but we are still trying to get ourselves in contention, we just have to keep turning up, continue that momentum and keep working hard for each other.”

Rovers have now taken seven points from the last nine on offer and are just five points off the play-offs, while Stevenage are looking over their shoulder at the other end of the table.

With just points from their last five games, they have fallen back towards the relegation zone and are only five points clear of the bottom two.

“This is the first time I’ve had this experience as a manager at this club, so I have to be particularly cold about my opinions today. I don’t think it is the day for a lot of reactions straight away,” said manager Paul Tisdale, who was replaced by Barton as Rovers boss last February.

“Somehow we had no connection or rhythm in the side, and then it comes down to how you played as individuals, and that wasn’t good enough either.

“There were one or two performances in there, other than that we were below par everywhere. It’s a combination of things and it’s about how we react.

“I’m still very much engaged with the team, in three months of being here we’ve done nothing but good stuff and reacted well to everything I’ve done. This is our first real test.

“The players will go home this weekend and consider what we’ve done, we’ll consider our response on Monday.

“I’ve been here before, I know this happens, and it does happen every now and again, and it’s how you respond. You learn every week.”