Covid-hit side showed great staying power
JIMMY Floyd Hasselbaink praised the commitment of his players as several of them battled post-covid fatigue in Saturday’s 4-1 win over Crewe Alexandra.
The Brewers scored three times in the first half to lead 3-1 and held Crewe at bay in the second half before adding a fourth goal in stoppage time.
Harry Chapman scored his first goal for the club after six minutes, John Brayford, returning after injury, scored the second and Kane Hemmings lashed in a superb volley before half-time, with substitute Daniel Jebbison getting the fourth.
Tom Lowery’s 25-yard shot gave Crewe their goal between Burton’s first two.
“We could see Covid had hit us in that last 25 minutes but the commitment from the boys was very good,” said Hasselbaink, who had himself had the virus without showing any symptoms.
“The last 25 minutes, you could see that we dropped off physically and there is some catch-up work to be done but, overall, we are very pleased with the performance and the result.
“In the first 70 minutes it was energetic. We started really well and, for once, from a transition, we finished it off and made it 1-0.
“They scored a really good goal, a great strike and sometimes you just have to clap your hands and say, ‘well done.’ That was one of them.
“But it didn’t affect us, we kept on going, kept on believing and kept on working.
“The ball was in their final third a lot and we forced them to defend. When you do that, the majority iof the time, you get opportunities.
“Kane Hemmings scored a wonder goal but he had more opportunities to score and that’s the good thing about it – that we created a lot of chances.
“I always say that we will take any goal and it doesn’t matter how they go in but there were a lot of good finishes today and a lot of willing work.”
Burton were missing several players who had not fully recovered from Covid. Notably, Terry Taylor and Jonny Smith were not involved.
“Jonny Smith is at home with Covid. He was supposed to be back (on Friday) but he was still testing positive,” said Hasselbaink.
“Terry Taylor came back on Friday but I didn’t want to take the risk.”
Lucas Akins was also out. The manager added: “Lucas had a little injury. He would have been able to play but I don’t want to lose Lucas for three or four weeks, so it was not right to take the risk.”
The game came a year after Hasselbaink returned to the club for a second spell as manager and he is happy with progress.
“We have come a long way. We have taken some big steps but, hopefully, there are some more big steps to take as well,” he said.
“We are hungry for those steps and we are in a process of getting to be a really good side.
“This was a good commercial for that. There were a lot of young players on the pitch for us and that’s good.
“We have done well but we don’t want to look back, we want to look forward and to keep on going.”