Joey Barton: Fleetwood face toughest test at Sunderland but there's no pressure on us

There would need to be a seven-goal swing for Town to overtake the Sunderland, who have won their last four games and are unbeaten in eight at home.

Nevertheless, the Cod Army go into the clash on the back of a five-game winning streak, having beaten Portsmouth 1-0 on Saturday.

The two sides met on New Year’s Day at Highbury, drawing 1-1, while Sunderland go into tonight’s game on the back of victory over Bristol Rovers.

Barton said: “Sunderland are a top side, I think they are the best side we’ve played here.

“They’ve been on a great run. They struggled to break down Bristol Rovers (winning 3-0 after the first 70 minutes were goalless), who are a dogged outfit.

“We struggled to break them down in both games but it’s a free game for us.

“It sounds mad to say that but we’ve taken 15 points out of 15, and even if we lose at Sunderland it isn’t the end of the world – we’re still right in the mix.

“If we win there, the cat is well and truly among the pigeons and we aren’t here to finish in the play-offs.

“That’s not our MO. Our MO is to give everything we can in the next game.

“This league is unrelenting. It’s a great league when you’re in a great vein of form and we’ve been saying for a while, ‘Who’s next?’”

Barton had questioned his side’s mentality earlier in the season, particularly away from home, but not any more.

He believes Sunderland are favourites to win tonight but is backing his Town squad to fight with everything they have.

Barton said: “Sunderland at their stadium is probably the hardest game in the league right now but we’re going to learn an awful lot about our group.

“Knowing the type of lads they are, these are the challenges they thrive on.

“We’re expected to lose that game, to be absolutely rolled over and put to the sword by a big powerhouse in the division.

“It will be backs to the wall, it will be the barbarians at the gates and that’s just how we like it.

“We never had Ched Evans on Saturday or Jordan Rossiter, who was arguably our best player before his injury, and Kyle Dempsey was having a superb season.

“So we’re without three big players for us, and with our budget, we can’t afford to lose three big players.

“So I’m excited about what the future holds. If we continue building, sticking to the processes and believing that what we’re doing will serve us well, it’s inevitable we’ll be successful because success for us is having a team that competes every week.”