BURNLEY new boy Joey Barton has praised Clarets staff for the way they reacted in the aftermath of the midfielder being hit on the head by a bottle.

Barton, then playing for Queens Park Rangers, was hit by a plastic bottle thrown from the crowd at Turf Moor in October 2013.

But the 32-year-old, who signed a one-year deal with Burnley on Thursday, insisted he reacted to the incident in a way that was to be expected, and praised the club for the way the situation was handled.

He said: “It could have got a little bit silly. I did not think I had done anything at all to warrant someone throwing a bottle at me.

“The way I reacted to it was perfectly normal. I took the bottle, put it to the side and did not make a big fuss about it or roll around on the floor. I just got on with it. I knew Alastair Campbell because he used to come down to games at Marseille when I was there and the club were brilliant with the way they reacted to it.

"They contacted me and said they apologised and I just said ‘Look, it is one of those things’. It did not make me think that was all Burnley fans.”

John Pounder, then 26, of Haslingden, was initially charged with throwing a missile on to the pitch but police action against him was dropped and Barton had taken to Twitter to say he did not think anyone deserved a criminal record from the incident.

That is not the only incident between Clarets fans and Barton that has been brought up in the wake of his signing. When Burnley took to the streets for an open-top bus parade after clinching promotion to the Premier League in 2014, he used social media to ridicule the club for having such a celebration for finishing second in the table.

Barton said: “If you offend anyone you apologise but it was not meant in that way. It was meant at poking a bit of fun at the situation. Most Burnley fans will have realised it was that.”