JOEY Barton has vowed to win Burnley fans over with his actions on the pitch rather than his persona off it.

The midfielder - one of football’s more controversial characters - upset Clarets fans in their promotion season with comments he made on twitter about their civic reception and the town itself, having been hit on the head by a Coke bottle thrown from the stands on his visit to Turf Moor in October of the 2013/14 campaign.

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“I’ll probably have to win one or two over, but that’s nothing new for me,” said the Clarets new boy.

Barton wrote a series of tweets on May 4, the day Burnley had their promotion parade through the town on an open top bus.

One read: “Breaking news: Apologies to Burnley. Just heard all fans are en route as we speak to see the open top bus...” with a photograph of a convoy of tractors attached.

With a screen grab of an empty street outside Burnley town hall well before the parade began he wrote: “This supposed to be a joke. I hope a few more people turn up!”

In reply to someone, he also tweeted: “We may well be really over rated but at least we don’t have to live in Burnley!”

The former Manchester City, Newcastle and QPR man admitted that with hindsight he had come to “regret” those tweets, but said at the time it was a reaction to the stick he received from the terraces at Turf Moor.

“Burnley I would have to say is one of the more passionate grounds to play at,” he said.

“They do like to give the opposition players a lot of stick, as I’ve bore the brunt of in the last certainly couple of seasons, but I like that.

“I’m that kind of player. I’m a spikey player where I’ll respond; if anyone throws a challenge down to me I’ll put one down back.

“Obviously sitting here now as a Burnley player you kind of regret saying what you said, but it wasn’t said in a derogatory nasty way.

“I don’t want to use the word banter because it’s a stupid word, but irony I think can be lost sometimes over 140 characters.

“I was getting plenty and I’m someone who likes to give it back and I will stand my ground.”

Barton added: “I get stick at every ground I go to. Generally I have to take that on board. The only way I deal with it - I’m not a shrinking violet - I just take it head on.

“Probably any club I would have signed for I would have had something similar from the past.

“I’m opinionated, and I like to play with it. I think football can sometimes take itself too seriously and obviously coming here people pull out every tweet that went on. But they forget the fans were giving me loads during Turf Moor games.

“And also we were in direct competition with Burnley as a football club so you’re always looking for those kind of psychological edges and we were going to play Burnley in the Premier League if they got promoted and QPR could get up after it.

“In hindsight you think, I could have done without saying that, but also the fact is it wasn’t just me having a go at Burnley, it was definitely a two-way street. The Burnley fans I’ve met have done it in a light-hearted manner.”

But Barton, who turns 33 today, said his previous Twitter outbursts now served to make him even more determined to make it up to supporters by delivering on the pitch.

“I think the fans know my talent as a player and they will see in weeks to come - hopefully if selected I will show them how committed I am to this football club and this town,” he said.

“I’ve come here to do good things for the football club and the town. I think people buy into that and they can see it’s a bit of stupid social media humour.

“There will be people who take offence to it.

“I had about eight kids outside the gate on Monday and it was the first thing they said to me.

“I expect that.

“But I’m very confident that when they see me play and what I’m about it will be like it has been for me at every other club.

“I’ve always been loved by the football clubs I’ve been at and I’ve always shared that rapport with the fans.

“It’s important to me as a player to feel at one with the fans because they are the people you’re representing on a daily or weekly basis when it comes to matches so nothing changes for me from that perspective.

“I’ll probably have to win one or two over, but that’s nothing new for me.”