KARL Robinson is expecting a committed encounter when Oxford United welcome Joey Barton’s Bristol Rovers to the Kassam Stadium tomorrow afternoon.

Both sides are struggling for form, with the teams losing six of their last seven games in Sky Bet League One.

It has seen the sides slump into the bottom half of the third tier and edge closer to the relegation zone.

United are 17th and six points above the bottom four, with Rovers two points and a place ahead.

Barton, who has never lost to Robinson during his stints in charge of Fleetwood Town and the Gas, celebrated his two-year anniversary with Rovers earlier this week.

His tenure year has so far included promotion from League Two in the last campaign, sealed with a 7-0 win against Scunthorpe United on the final day of the the season.

With both sides struggling for points, Robinson is confident it will be a full-blooded affair at Grenoble Road.

“I’ve known Joey since we were kids, I’ve known Joey before what other people assume as Marmite,” said Robinson.

“He’s someone I’ve known for many, many years – we’ve always respected each other but it’s that mentality of I’m desperate to beat him and he’s desperate to beat us.

“The most important thing is we’re desperate for our clubs to win.

“It’s not about the two people standing on the touchline, it’s about the teams that we work for and the players that we coach.

“He’ll be so determined to win this game for his players and the fans of Bristol Rovers but I’m determined to win this game for the players and fans of Oxford United.

“Whatever Joey’s done up to now is testament to him but at the weekend, that goes out the window a little bit.”

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On the 12.30pm visit of Rovers, Robinson added: “They’ll see it exactly the same as ourselves, they’ll see it as an opportunity for them to get a result.

“From my point of view, their run of results has got no relevance in what we speak about.

“It’ll be a very intense game, almost like a cup game, that type of level of game where the fans are going to get right behind their teams.

“The run of form both teams are in and the intensity with the way the fans are with each other means it’ll be billed as a bigger game than most.

“It’s about us making sure we control our emotions and that what we’ve worked on this week comes to the forefront of the game.

“I don’t ever feel that extra pressure, I always say that nobody can put more pressure on me than what I put on myself.

“From my point of view, we feel like we’re in a good place.

“The game’s important because it’s the next game, that’s the only relevance that it has.”