Brewers boss tells players to ‘grab our luck’
JIMMY Floyd Hasselbaink thought his Burton Albion side were unlucky not to beat Ipswich Town – and that they should have done so.
The Brewers went down 1-0 to a side they have not now beaten in eight attempts but Hasselbasink felt the performance was better than in last week’s 1-0 win away to Gillingham.
“I thought the performance on its own was very good, better than the Gillingham performance, overall, only the result didn’t go with it,” said Hasselbaink.
“I thought we gave them nothing at all, they had one chance in the second half (apart from the goal) and that was saved. We made a very good team look ordinary.
“I think we should have scored. We should have won. We were the better team, with good organisation.
“They are a strong, physical team but we coped.
“Gilly (Ciaran Gilligan) in the middle and Charles Vernam on the left did ever so well; young players with lots of energy.”
Ipswich’s winning goal came after a 73rd-minute cross from Alan Judge took a big deflection to fall kindly for Mark McGuinness to head home.
“We were a little unlucky at times,” said Hasselbaink.
“I’m sad for the boys that we lost on a deflection and a header.
“It took a deflection and set Lucas (Akins) at the back post a little bit off – but he was tremendous today.
“But we should not have given the free kick away (that led to the cross), that was disappointing. We need to do a little bit better with the fine margins and go and grab our luck.”
The Brewers might have gone in front at the end of the first half when Charles Vernam’s volley was brilliantly blocked by Ipswich captain Luke Chambers and the Burton manager felt a goal then would have changed the pattern of the game.
“That was a very good block by Chambers on Vernam,” Hasselbaink conceded.
“Those are the moments when you have to make a difference and also when you need a little bit of luck.
“If you go 1-0 up, it’s a totally different game. They would have had to be a little more open and we could have played a little more on the counter.”
Organised as Burton were, they were short of creativity up front, another area Hasselbaink knows they will have to work on.
“We need more quality in the final third, to have more shots, more end product. That’s something we will have to work on a little harder,” he said.
New signings Josh Parker and Sean Clare came off the bench just after Ipswich had scored, the manager saying he had planned to introduce them with the game goalless.
“They had 20 minutes and I expect to see more quality from them. They have quality and they changed the game a bit when they came on,” said Hasselbaink.
“I would like them to have come on at 0-0. I was ready to make the substitutions, then Ipswich scored, which was a pity.”
Nor will Clare and Parker be the last arrivals. With 10 days now until Burton are in action again, Hasselbaink is hoping to do more business in the transfer window, with defence still a priority.
“We have to do at least a couple more. I don’t really have cover at left-back or right-back and we need a littel more quality up front,” he said. “We need someone who can do something a little bit different – dribble and find a pass. But those are hard to find.
“I said before, I need to balance the squad a little more and that’s what I will try to do.
“In February, we will have Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday matches and you want to change if someone has a dead leg or something and you want the quality to stay more or less the same.”
Burton were without Kieran Wallace and Colin Daniel with injuries on Saturday, while John-Joe O’Toole limped off early in the game with an injury Hasselbaink suspects will keep him out of the next game, at home to Shrewsbury Town.