February will give a good idea of Albion’s progress
BURTON Albion will not be relegated in February, nor will they reach safety in February but it will be a critical month in Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink’s survival mission.
Yes, that is stating the obvious. There is not a single League One fixture of the 22 remaining which will not be critical when a team have accrued as few points as Burton have in the first half of the season.
Nor is February especially busy. It contained only five matches until the postponed Blackpool game was rearranged for this coming Tuesday.
There was no chance of the Shrewsbury Town game being rescheduled this month, as the Shrews have already filled each midweek slot in February – on 23 matches, they have more catching up to do than any other team in the bottom half, which may yet be a crucial factor in how things pan out.
If there is one advantage of the perilous position Burton find themselves in, five points adrift at the bottom of the table, it is that, until now at least, they have had fewer games called off than anyone else, so they had less of a fixture backlog.
However, one of the reasons February is crucial is because Albion will be getting back into the swing of things after a Covid-19-enforced break, along with the blank weekend because of Doncaster Rovers’ participation in the FA Cup.
The transfer window has closed, nine players have come in and the trick now is how quickly the refreshed squad might gel.
If they have not gelled until April, for example, it would likely be too late.
February starts, all being well, with Saturday’s visit from Hull City and it is a hard one to predict. How good, or not, are Hull? When Burton went to the Kcom Stadium in November, missing 12 players due to their first Covid-19 outbreak, the Tigers were sluggish, predictable and not as urgent as you might have expected them to be against a struggling team who were reduced to 10 men by Sam Hughes’ dismissal after 18 minutes.
Yes, they eventually won 2-0 and, to be fair, were faced with having to break down a rearguard action by the depleted Brewers but, in the first half, Burton certainly matched them and might have scored several times. Reporters who watch Hull every week felt the Tigers were fortunate to be as high up the table as they were and it showed.
Since the game against Burton, they have lost at home to Shrewsbury Town and Portsmouth. However, they have also avenged the Pompey defeat with a thumping 4-0 win at Fratton Park and seen off promotion rivals Charlton Athletic 2-0.
They beat Accrington Stanley 3-0 at home – but lost the League leadership by losing 2-0 to the same opponents, then regained it by scraping a 1-0 win at home to Swindon Town.
In short, they are one of many sides who strengthen a point I have made often about this being a very average season in League One, in terms of quality. No-one is dominating for long, so far.
Therefore, if the new players hit the ground running, Hull will see a different Burton and the Brewers could upset them.
The visit to Blackpool has been slotted in for Tuesday and, while unpredictable and probably heading for another mid-table finish, the Seasiders have just won their last two games, scoring seven goals and conceding none, doing Burton a couple of favours, since the opponents were Wigan Athletic and Northampton Town.
Next is Northampton away and the Cobblers have not been having it easy since they won 3-1 at the Pirelli in November.
That day, they benefited from what was, at the time, the worst Burton performance of the season – the hapless display against Oxford United has since surpassed it.
Northampton did not look especially good that day – they did not have to – and they were soon thumped 4-0 in successive games by Oxford United and Lincoln City.
They dropped into the relegation places on goal difference with Tuesday night’s defeat to Blackpool and are one of the teams the Brewers must beat if they are to get out of trouble. If the desire to avenge that abject home defeat does not burn bright for those remaining who were involved in it, it should.
Sunderland at home on Saturday, February 20, is a tough one. The Black Cats have been hitting their stride under Lee Johnson, with only one defeat in 12 games in all competitions and a 4-0 win away to Lincoln is a good indication of how well they can play.
It is, however, one of the games which emphasises the problem of not having supporters involved, as they would have brought one of the larger, more passionate followings.
After that, the Brewers are away to Charlton Athletic, against whom they produced their most potent, if not perhaps their most complete performance of the season to win 4-2 in November.
It raised hopes that Jake Buxton’s squad might have been clicking into gear but it also proved to be a false dawn.
Charlton’s form is up and down.
Hull are one of many sides who strengthen the point about this being a very average season in League One Colston Crawford
They have won only three of their last 13 games, drawn five and lost five and yet they are only outside the play-off places on goal difference.
February closes with another away battle against drop-zone rivals in Rochdale, who won 1-0 at the Pirelli Stadium earlier in the season.
That result was not representative of many of their matches, in which goals have been flying in from all angles. Only Hull have scored more, yet only Burton and Swindon Town have conceded more.
Dale began 2021 with successive 3-3, 4-4 and 3-3 draws. Prior to that, they had lost 4-1 to Peterborough United and to Gillingham but had hammered Wigan 5-0 between those.
They have also won 4-0 away to Plymouth Argyle.
Last week, it was more of the same, a seesaw of a game against Oxford in which the sides were level at 3-3 until stoppage time, when
Oxford popped in a winner, but Dale bounced back with a win on Saturday, 2-1 away to Bristol Rovers.
There is no predicting what Rochdale might do but that win was only their second in 11 matches.
Anyway, the month adds up to games against three promotion contenders, two relegation rivals – and now Blackpool. By the end of it, we will be getting a good idea of whether or not the Hasselbaink effect is giving the Brewers a chance.