Former Newcastle United midfielder Joey Barton says that he will not celebrate against his former club if he manages to score for QPR during the weekend.
The London club will be making the trip to Saint James’s Park to take on a resurgent Newcastle team. After flirting with relegation at the start of the season, the Northeast outfit have managed to win four matches on the bounce. QPR may have managed only one win during this period, but the results have not given the entire story. Harry Redknapp’s men are a much improved outfit in recent weeks especially after the return of Joey Barton to listen to the midfield.
Redknapp has also switched to a back four after experimenting with a back three in order to accommodate Rio Ferdinand. Hence, the match this weekend is certainly not going to be in favour of Newcastle. QPR have the ability to spring a surprise with Barton one of the favourites to score. Even though his Newcastle United career came to an abrupt halt with an unhappy ending, the former England international says that he will not celebrate if he manages to find the back of the net on Saturday. The 32-year-old played at Newcastle for four years from 2007 to 2011.
“Without a shadow of doubt, no.I have far too much respect for the Newcastle fans.It is a place I am incredibly fond of.It would be very disrespectful to do that if I was lucky enough to score, which I have not been doing of late. I would never dream of doing it. I will try to win the game and be competitive and there will be certain occasions when there is a ball to be won and it is my job to do it,” said the combative midfielder.
