Maamria: Squad age will mean we are not consistent
THE relative youth of Burton Albion’s squad was a big factor in the Brewers’ FA Cup defeat to Port Vale on Saturday, says assistant manager Dino Maamria.
Albion have to bounce back quickly with a League One game tonight away to a Wycombe Wanderers side who are already pushing hard for an immediate return to the Championship and Maamria hopes lessons will have been learned from the 2-1 defeat to Vale.
That loss was still raw for Maamria when he spoke to the media yesterday but, with senior players John Brayford and Michael Bostwick sidelined and Lucas Akins watching from the bench, it was one of the youngest teams Burton have put out in recent years.
“To say that we were gutted is an understatement,” said Maamria.
“We were bitterly disappointed with the performance and the outcome. We had emphasised to the players how big the FA Cup is, how important it is to the club.
“We have a lot of young players in the squad and it was probably their first or second experience of the FA Cup as first team players. “They will have learnt a lot from it. FA Cup games are always one-offs and it doesn’t really matter which team you are playing against.
“The lower division team – although Port Vale are a big club in League Two – will give everything they have got in the tie.
“I would like to think a lot of our players have learned a lot from that. “Look at the squad and the average age is under 24. We have a lot of players who have not actually played a lot of football.
“Tom Hamer is still only 21, Tom O’Connor is in his second season as a first-team player. It’s Terry Taylor’s first season as a first-team player. Daniel Jebbison is 18.
“When you have a young team you will get an inconsistency in performances. We will have bad performances but we’ll get better for it. “As a management team, we can get frustrated with that but we have to keep helping these players. I think that our fan base understands that and they will still be behind
As a management team we can get frustrated but we have to keep helping these players. Dino Maamria
them.”
It is, Maamria hopes, a good thing that the next match – an especially tough one at that, on paper, comes around so quickly and is followed by one away to another of the joint leaders, Rotherham United, on Saturday.
“We have a big month in December and we need a positive reaction from the players,” said Maamria.
“The most important thing is having another game on Tuesday night. We asked them how they felt on Monday but, after that, we have to shift it and move on. We’ve talked about it and the most important thing will be getting a good reaction from it.
“Wycombe are a good team and Gareth Ainsworth did a fantastic job
taking them from the foot of League Two all the way to the Championship.
“They play a certain way but it doesn’t matter which way as long as they are all on the same page – which they are. They have a lot of experienced players who’ve been together a long time. They’re flying high in the league, rightfully so, and we will have to be at it.
“Our players have to stand up and be counted. We know what they are and we know their weaknesses. We have prepared the players as much as possible for that.
“We just have to make sure the performance is an improvement on Saturday’s.
“I think Port Vale, Wycombe and Rotherham are very similar in their style of play – and in terms of their league position.
“They’re all in a good period, so we knew this run of games would be tough.”