“I’ve been in the background trying to support them but it starts for me, hopefully, on Saturday and then we’ll take it from there.”
With Barton, questions about his temperament often dominate the debate. But Newcastle fans have as much reason to care about the fitness of a player who has suffered a broken foot three times and a torn medial ligament as anything else.
“Not playing for six months is the worst. Fans say he’s sitting on his a**e, picking up his money, but I tell you – it’s a lot harder when you’re injured than when you’re fit,” Barton said.
“Being out there at Hartlepool, for me was fantastic. That’s the light at the end of the tunnel for me.
“Being part of something great happening to Newcastle United was always my motivation, as well as the desire to prove myself.”
So we come full circle to that desire not to distract, not to undermine team-mates who have performed so well in his absence.
Can Barton – who believes he is good enough to get back in Newcastle’s team – cope with being a peripheral figure for the run-in, despite being fully fit? Time will tell, but acceptance at the club he “loves” depends on it.
“We’ve got some tough games coming up, but we won’t take our foot off the pedal,” he said.
“That’s the feeling I get from the camp, and hopefully I can add something to that. They’ve lacked me all season – maybe I can come in and freshen it up a little bit.
“Maybe I won’t be needed, who knows, that’s down to Chris Hughton, but I will put my hand up for selection.
“I want to play every game between now and the end of the season because I want to take a bit of the workload off getting this club back where it belongs.”
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