A wasted chance to build for Brewers
MANAGER Jake Buxton said his Burton Albion side wasted the chance to build on an encouraging point away to Bristol Rovers at the weekend when they crumbled to a 1-0 home defeat to Rochdale on Tuesday.
The Brewers slipped to the bottom of the League One table and have now gone six games without a win in all competitions.
Former Burton player Matty Lund scored the second-half winner for Dale, who came to the game below the Brewers, also with only one win from their first six League outings.
Yet a 1-1 draw at the Memorial Stadium on Saturday suggested Buxton’s side may have been turning the corner. As they prepare to take on AFC Wimbledon at the Pirelli Stadium on Saturday, the manager was bitterly disappointed they did not.
“They need to look at the table because we are disappointed with the performance,” saifd Buxton.
“We took huge strides on Saturday in being solid and we performed very, very well and finished the game off very strong.
“We did more than enough to win the game on Saturday but we didn’t.
“We spoke about it in terms of it being a big week for us. Two games at home – step forward and perform.
“We didn’t, so we are disappointed and we’re in a bad situation at the minute in terms of the table.
“Like I said last time, we will roll our sleeves up and look at the opposition on Saturday and I will look for a response.
“I need some players to step up and be willing for the challenge ahead. I felt tonight that we didn’t stand up at times.
“We did OK in periods in the first half. We created a couple of opportunities from playing down the sides, crosses into the box.
“Kane Hemmings hit the post, but it’s small margins again.
“We gave far too many free kicks away in the second half – silly free kicks, not doing the work – and we conceded from a set play, which is disappointing.
“In the second half we had a bit of a go down the sides but not enough.
“Too many are under-performing at the minute.
“The work we put in Saturday and the structure of the team and what we wanted, I thought we would carry that on into today and take steps forward, but we didn’t.”