Quansah takes plaudits as Bristol Rovers hold Ipswich

Bristol Rovers manager Joey Barton insisted “the sky’s the limit” for Liverpool defender Jarell Quansah after he helped dent Ipswich’s promotion hopes in a 0-0 draw at the Memorial Stadium.

Barton sang the praises of the on-loan 20-year-old centre-back after he produced an outstanding display at the heart of the Rovers defence.

“The sky’s the limit for Jarell and I am sure that he really can go on to achieve whatever he wants,” said Barton of a player who headed to Rovers in the January transfer window.

“It says a lot about him that Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has him training with the first-team squad at Anfield which is right at the top end of our profession.

“I’m so pleased that they trust us with a player they think so highly of and he’s had to learn a different style of football with us.

“But if he keeps working hard and remains level-headed he can achieve anything because of his character which reminds me of Elliot Anderson (a successful former loan signing from Newcastle) because nothing fazes him.

“Jarell’s had to hit the ground running and get used to losing back-to-back games but I love working with top players like Jarell and he shows all the qualities in a new addition which is giving everything for the shirt.”

The Gas ended a run of four consecutive league defeats with a hard-fought draw.

Barton added: “We’ve managed to stop the bleeding against a very good side and I’m so pleased for the group and the club as a whole.

“We worked on making it tough for them and to a man they were superb and it was a proper team performance.

“And in the midst of all that you’ve seen a few young boys turn into men and they’ve laid the foundations to build fantastic careers, like Jarell.

“It was a thoughtful, enjoyable defensive display against a side that’s chasing promotion.

“If you can’t win you’ve got to dig in for a point and I’m proud of the way the group did that against a club with an embarrassment of riches.”

Tractor Boys manager Kieran McKenna, who side had 21 attempts on goals, expressed disappointment.

“The over-riding emotion is frustration because we wanted the win and I felt we did enough to win it over 90 minutes but it didn’t go our way,” McKenna said.

“There are positives to take because this isn’t an easy place to come, especially when they defend as deeply as they did.

“They’re not on a good run but they defended with a low block and tried to hit us on the counter-attack.”

McKenna, who has overseen just one win in eight, added: “We’re drawing too many games, not coming out on top of the fine margins.

“Once we get a win under our belt then the confidence will flow. Our focus needs to be on Saturday so we’re not in a position to be thinking about putting runs together.”