Perseverance leads to win – and a day off
NIGEL Clough says Burton Albion got a reward for their persistence right until the end in the victory over Bristol Rovers.
Ben Fox’s 91st-minute winner – his first League goal – handed Albion a precious three points at the end of a cagey game in which they looked set to be denied by the woodwork and a couple of fine saves by keeper Jack Bonham.
Will Miller and Kyle McFadzean had hit the post and bar respectively and Burton were three minutes away from a fifth game without victory in all competitions.
They continued to press for a late breakthrough, though, and a well-taken finish from Fox ensured they eventually got what Clough says they have warranted over recent weeks.
“It’s nothing more than we deserved, today and in our previous games,” said the Brewers boss.
“The level of performances have been good, we’ve talked about it and that we just needed a little break.
“When you’ve hit the post and the bar, you don’t think it’s coming.
“It was a reward for how we kept persevering and kept doing the right thing.
“We didn’t just resort to throwing the ball in the box willy-nilly, we kept playing, kept passing and the winning goal showed that.
“It just gives them what they’ve deserved in the last few weeks.
“It’s that small break that we haven’t been getting and didn’t get for the majority of the game today.
“I don’t think we were as good as we have been, certainly against Southend United, against Wycombe Wanderers at times.
“But we were solid at the back and reduced a good side to very few opportunities. Again, Dimitar Evtimov has not had much to do.
“So the clean sheet is as important as the winning goal for us.”
Albion’s win over the Pirates came in their fourth game of October and they still have another four to come, in the League and Carabao Cup, before the month is out.
An extra day off for the Brewers’ squad could be valuable, then.
“They are happy and they’ll be happy when they have a beer at home after the game, sitting at home with their families and enjoying their weekend,” added Clough when asked about the mood in the home dressing room.
“And they’ve got Monday off. “We did a deal with them where, if they won on Saturday, we’d give them Monday off – so they get a nice rest, it’s two days’ rest now.”