Despite a series of poor performances, Barton has remained in the QPR first team.
“You don’t like to see that but Joey’s an immensely strong character so I don’t think we need to worry about it,” said Mackie. “He’s our captain, our leader. He never hides, whether he’s having a good or a bad game. He’s probably got a bigger part to play than anyone [in QPR’s fight against relegation]. He wants us to win games whether he is banging the goals in or not and we are lucky to have him.”
