Former Bristol Rovers manager makes top six point ahead of facing Gas with Barnsley this weekend

Former Bristol Rovers manager Darrell Clarke has claimed that he believes the Gas have ambitions to push for the top six this year ahead of his Barnsley side's meeting with Rovers at Oakwell on Saturday.

Clarke took charge of the Reds over the summer after leaving Cheltenham Town following the Robins' relegation to League Two and has overseen an identical start to Matt Taylor's side in regards to points, taking seven from their opening quartet of League One matches. The Tykes have also enjoyed Carabao Cup victories over Wigan Athletic and Sheffield United which has set up a mammoth away tie at Manchester United in the third round later this month.

Having spent almost five years in BS7, guiding the Gas to back-to-back promotions from the Conference to League One as manager in 2015 and 2016, Clarke is very much regarded as a Rovers legend and, despite facing his former side as an opposition manager on a number of occasions since his departure in 2018 with the likes of Port Vale and Cheltenham, the former Rovers boss still withholds great affection for the club.

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"They've had a solid start to the season," Clarke told local media ahead of this weekend's clash. "They've invested heavily in the squad. They've got a talented manager. They've got a good group of players and I think they've got ambitions to be in the top six this year with the resources they've been given and got. It's a different club to the one I left. It has a new training base, the stadium has been upgraded, the budget is a hell of a lot higher by the looks of things.

"They're a club that's ambitious that wants to get to the Championship like 14, 15 clubs in this division. I had a great nearly five years there, made some great memories. I love the Gasheads, I've got a great relationship with them but they'll also know me well enough to know that I want to win the game. I'm really enjoying my time here and there's nobody that wants to win more on Saturday than myself.

"I don't think there is, to be honest with you," the 46-year-old added when asked if anyone at Rovers from his time is still there. "I think it's evolved. New ownership came in over the last year and a half, I think it is. They've made big investments into the football club so it's all change which tends to happen in football."

In terms of the recruitment Clarke referred to, the Gas recruited 16 new players during the summer transfer window, the majority of which are particularly young talents with high potential.

Rovers are still very much in the infancy of what is a work in progress as Taylor looks to gel this new-look outfit together but they head to Oakwell with confidence on the back of a solid start which has seen home wins over Northampton Town and Cambridge United alongside a goalless draw at Rotherham United and a 2-0 defeat at Stockport County.

Three clean sheets in four games has also been welcome considering how leaky the Gas were at the back last term but they will be particularly keen to pick up a first win on the road.

Due to international call-ups throughout League One, Saturday's game in South Yorkshire is one of just three games that have avoided postponements and on the fixture Clarke declared: "It's going to be a challenge. Like I said, they've got a talented squad of players, they've invested in that and they're a team that I think will fancy their chances of getting into the top six this season. I think that's their ambition there.

"So it's going to be a challenging game but the focus on ourselves, we appreciate what their strengths are but we've hit a bit of rhythm and we want to continue that rhythm and continue improving performances. That has to be our sole focus."

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