Clough: Let’s shut their fans up if we can
NIGEL Clough wants Burton Albion to silence Sunderland’s away support early on in this weekend’s League One clash.
The Black Cats have sold out their away ticket allocation and will be well followed for today’s game at the Pirelli Stadium (3pm), as they look to extend their unbeaten start to the season.
The Brewers, meanwhile, are targeting three successive home League wins for the first time since December 2015.
During their debut Championship campaign in 2016-17, Albion became renowned for overpowering “bigger” clubs at the Pirelli, with Derby County, Sheffield Wednesday, Leeds United and Norwich City among their scalps.
And Clough believes recapturing that quality of the Burton game could be crucial against Sunderland.
“I think that’s what we did especially well in our first season in the Championship,” he said when asked about quietening the Black Cats support down.
“The vast majority of teams that came sold out their allocation and started very buoyant and everything.
“Then we wore them down and, all of a sudden, the away end got quiet. I think it’ll be important to do that on Saturday if we can.” After a frustrating season on home soil in 2017-18, the Brewers have begun the new campaign in a positive fashion at the Pirelli, with two wins from three in the League and a memorable Carabao Cup victory over Aston Villa. Clough says that upturn on the pitch has been mirrored by the atmosphere in the stands. “I think our supporters have been brilliant the last few weeks and really got behind us,” he said.
“You think from the Villa game and then the three great goals against AFC Wimbledon and even in the Checkatrade Trophy – there weren’t too many here but they appreciated the standard of the game in the competition. Nigel Clough
“We had brilliant support Accrington Stanley as well.
“The supporters aren’t daft, they recognise if the team’s playing well or not.
“And, hopefully, they will notice quite a significant difference between last season and this season in the way we’re playing.”
Further to that, the manager acknowledges that his side have a way to go to become the finished article – but he has been encouraged by recent performances.
“We’re certainly not there and the finished article yet and will not be until we get everybody available,” he said.
“Usually, you have your squad together pre-season and you can work on stuff.
“We didn’t have that luxury at all, we could hardly raise a team in preseason at times, let alone the first few weeks of the season.
“So we’re going to be playing a little bit of catch-up.
“But there’s the encouragement of the last four games and even Bradford City before that.
“We’ve talked about glimpses in games, I think it’s more than glimpses now.
“We’re having sustained periods in matches where we’re playing well.” at