Barton surprised by shirt snub
QPR midfielder Joey Barton admits he was surprised to discover he hasn't been given a shirt number for the forthcoming campaign.
Barton wasn't allocated a number when his Premier League club announced their squad listings on Thursday ahead of their opening game of the season against Swansea on Saturday.
The former Newcastle star has to serve a 12-game ban from the start of the campaign following his red card at Manchester City on the final day of last season.
Barton was stripped of the club captaincy after that dismissal and has been training with League Two club Fleetwood during pre-season.
The shirt snub was the latest indication that QPR boss Mark Hughes is keen to sell Barton, but the player still took to Twitter to express surprise at the situation.
"Heard my shirt number's gone to someone else. News to me..." he wrote.
"Just come off the golf course so only just heard. A call would have been nice. Ah, well life goes on..."
©2011 AFP
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