Joey Barton: No 'bad blood' between Hull City's Grant McCann and his Bristol Rovers counterpart

The two men will come face-to-face at the KCOM Stadium on Saturday afternoon when the promotion-chasing Tigers entertain their struggling League One rivals.

Former Manchester City and Newcastle United midfielder Barton, who was appointed Gas boss just last month, said in November that there was some "bad blood" between Hull and Fleetwood Town - the club he was managing at the time.

His comments were made in relation to an FA investigation into words that were exchanged between players and staff during Fleetwood's 4-1 win over City at Highbury back on October 9.

But, McCann has moved to pour cold water on suggestions that there is any kind of a personal feud between the pair.

"I've always had a good chat with Joey when I've played against his teams, there's no bad blood at all," the Tigers head coach said.

"It's just two managers who want to win a game of football."

City head into this weekend's contest buoyed by back-to-back victories and knowing that three points against Rovers could see them take over at the top of the table if leaders Peterborough lose at in-form Burton Albion.

But, McCann is expecting a tough examination from a Bristol outfit, who he expects to play in a similar fashion to that which their new manager used to operate during his own time in the professional game.

"Obviously Joey's in there now, the way his teams have played, they're high energy, they're in your face. They get the ball down, they move it, try and play in-between you. They almost show a wee bit what their manager was about when he played," the Hull chief added.

"That's what's what we expect. He's taken three games now he's finding his feet, getting to know his players and I've seen this when I've moved to Doncaster and then Hull, it takes time to get to know people and understand what they're about.

"But, we've seen them beat a good Shrewsbury team, who were on a good run, and we've seen them go to a form team in Burton and probably should have won, if it hadn't been for the sending off, so it's gonna be a tough fixture.

"A new manager, he'll probably instil different beliefs and philosophies into them, so we've just got to make sure that we focus on what we are about.

"We can't control what Bristol Rovers are going to do, we've got to make sure that we get our own team right, our own clear plan and we approach the game nice and calm and composed and try and get another three points."