BRISTOL Rovers manager Joey Barton has doubled down on previous criticisms surrounding Swindon Town head coach Ben Garner ahead of the pair's League Two clash on Saturday.

Previously, Barton had suggested Garner was "negligent" while at the helm of Rovers and criticised his ability as a coach.

Garner was at the Memorial for around a year before his sacking paved the way for Paul Tisdale, and then Barton, to oversee relegation to League Two last term.

In Friday's pre-match press conference, the current Rovers boss occasionally praised his opposite number but mainly chose to continue making thinly veiled digs.

Speaking to Bristol Live, Barton said: “It’s good to see Ben back on the horse. It’s a tough profession, this, and we’re all aware of what went on last season.

“For us, it’s just about taking care of business. We’ve got a team that we want to get a positive result and a positive performance against.

“It just happens to be the manager who’s probably the most susceptible for the club’s relegation. He will have to take that on the chin, Ben, as I will and as Paul Tisdale will.

“We’re all culpable for the club not being in League One this year and I don’t think he’s done that maliciously.

"He tried to the best of his ability to build a team here, and I can understand the frustration having inherited some of the on and off-field issues which were probably huge frustrations for Ben when he was a manager here.

“He’s a decent bloke and he might take me to task on a few things I said, but I have no problem with that. If he wants to discuss the finer points, I’m sure I can spare 15-20 minutes for him after the game.

“But we’ve got a game to win and my focus now is not on what happened last season because figuring that out and apportioning blame to whoever that was is not going to help us get promoted or be part of the promotion-chasing teams this season.”

The 39-year-old continued by discussing Garner's early career at the County Ground.

Barton said: “I think he’s done a good job, certainly after the off-season they had. It was disruptive to say the least and he’s gone in and you can see straight away he has a football identity and he wants to play a certain way.

“He’s clearly a good coach, I think there’s no doubt about that and he knows how to set a team up. The challenge for him is whether he can be considered a good manager, isn’t it?

“He’s clearly well organised and he’s got an opportunity very quickly at Swindon to prove the doubters wrong.

“Ben will be keen, as most of us are at the football club, to put last season behind us and I don’t think it’s fair to keep dragging it up, although this weekend will probably touch a nerve for some of our supporters because they will feel Ben had a major say in the recruitment of the team that ultimately dropped out of the division.

“But also, I have to take accountability there because I had 20-odd games and Paul Tisdale will also have to take accountability because he had a tenure as well that wasn’t ideal.”

Prior to Town's second meeting with Rovers last season, Barton criticised the quality of his players, and it was at this point he blamed Garner for negligence.

Barton suggested the crux of Rovers' issues last term was down to a poor summer of recruitment, and he repeated those accusations before Saturday's contest.

“I think the damage was done in the pre-season,” he said.

“When I speak to people in and around the club I think they were severely undermanned in pre-season with some of the cultural and behavioural patterns that started to emerge under Ben’s watch that were detrimental.

“Ultimately, he recruited the players and the players ended up getting him the sack and getting Tisdale the sack and ended up taking us out of the division.

“He probably won’t thank me for going on about it, but as you asked it’s important that it’s put to bed and we have an opportunity now with my group of players this season to put right the wrongs of the last couple of years."