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Bristol Rovers manager Joey Barton has apologised for comparing his side's performance against Newport County on Saturday to "a Holocaust".

Barton was criticised by several anti-Semitism campaigners after using the analogy in his post-match interview.

The Football Association also contacted Barton in relation to the comment.

"Clearly no offence was meant, but some people have rightly pointed out to me the use of the analogy was not correct," he told ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio Bristol.

The 39-year-old former England and Manchester City midfielder added: "The FA wrote to me this week to remind us of our language and communications, and the last thing you want to do is cause offence or upset anybody.

"So if anybody was offended by that, I would like to apologise for that. I think the FA were right to write to me and remind me of that.

"You hope to use better analogies in future, but it was certainly with no malice or offence intended to anybody."

The Holocaust, carried out by the Nazis during World War Two, claimed the lives of an estimated six million Jews.

Speaking after his side's League Two defeat on Saturday, Barton told reporters: "I said to the lads during the week, 'the team's almost like musical chairs'.

"Someone gets in and does well but then gets suspended or injured.

"Someone gets in for a game, does well but then has a Holocaust, a nightmare, an absolute disaster."

It is the first time either Bristol Rovers or Barton have addressed the comments since they came to light on social media.

"It's our duty to be word perfect and not create controversy," he added.

"I get that everything we say, even this I'm saying now will no doubt be pieced together in such a way that it will be there to grab and capture the attention of people that use social media, the internet.

"For me, it was a poor analogy to use in the context of the modern-day world we live in, and it won't happen again."