BREWER JIMMY JUMPING FOR JOY

JIMMY Floyd Hasselbaink insisted he couldn’t fault his Burton brigade as they thumped Accrington Stanley to go three points clear at the top of League Two.

The Brewers put a gloss on the scoreline in the latter stages, finally seeing Stanley off by three goals after withstanding a spirited fightback from the visitors after half-time.

Both sides had enjoyed half chances when Stanley centre-back Rob Atkinson presented the league leaders with a golden opportunity after 25 minutes.

Damien McCrory stepped up to put the Brewers in front from 12 yards after Atkinson went into the book for handling Matty Palmer’s free-kick into the box.

John Coleman’s side displayed greater urgency after the break, with Terry Gornell, Josh Windass, and Sean Maguire all going close for the before the hour.

But the visitors ultimately failed to make their strong spell count, and paid the price 17 minutes from time, when Adam McGurk teed up Stuart Beavon to put the game to bed with a low finish beyond Scott Davies.

And Palmer put the icing on the cake for Hasselbaink’s table-toppers with a wellplaced strike from just outside the area.

“It was a very important win for us here, a very important win,” Hasselbaink said.

“I must say the first half was one of the best halves that we’ve played since I’ve been here, and actually we deserved a little bit more from it.”

But the former Chelsea and Leeds striker admitted that Accrington had put his side under pressure, and lauded his centre-backs and their midfield protection for ensuring that the hosts retained the lead.

“In the second half, we didn’t come out how we really wanted to, but you have to give Accrington that credit,” he added. “They changed a few things, they made it difficult, and asked us questions. I was very impressed with the defending, with the reaction, the commitment, and with the organisation.

“Robbie Weir, Tom Naylor, Shane Cansdell-Sherriff and John Mousinho did a magnificent job. That block of four is so important.” Hasselbaink’s opposite number John Coleman was left to rue the individual errors that undermined an otherwise impressive display from his visitors, who remain 15th.

“Mistakes are killing us at the moment, and they are stopping us being where we should be in the league, which is the top six,” Coleman claimed.

“3-0 flatters them, but that happens in football. We did not get what we deserved.

“Credit to Burton, they were clinical. We gifted them the first goal with handball for a penalty, and then we had chances. I think if we had got one, we would have won the game.”

“But individual mistakes are costing us.We are as good as any team in the league, and we can’t get too low about this because we played well.

“We have to stick our chests out and keep going.”