Bens make reserve game starts

BEN Turner and Ben Fox made their first starts for Burton Albion after spells out injured in Tuesday’s Central League Cup defeat to Shrewsbury Town.

Damien McCrory, Marcus Harness, Joe Sbarra, Elliot Hodge and Kieran Wallace also featured for Albion, who twice lost the lead to lose 4-3 at the New Meadow.

Harness won and converted a penalty to give Albion the advantage, before Lee Angol equalised.

Hodge fired home to nudge Burton back in front at the break – but Angol provided an emphatic response for the hosts.

The ex-Wycombe Wanderers man grabbed his second from Charlie Colkett’s pass and completed his hat-trick on the counter-attack, with Shaun Whalley’s fine free kick making it 4-2 late on.

A second of the game for the lively Harness came too late to rescue anything for the Brewers. back from behind – so, testing that resilience could be a crucial factor of this weekend’s clash.

Making a fast start is one thing, of course, but maintaining performance levels is another entirely.

It was not a surprise to see Burton fade slightly before half-time against Shrewsbury, as the intensity of their early efforts seemed to take a toll before the break. The Shrews grew into the contest from there.

In the second half, the hosts were playing into the wind and that had a much bigger impact.

The 2-1 home losses to Southend and Charlton provide examples of when the Brewers have taken the lead but ultimately lost to late goals as their opponents held firm and then caught them out.

It was a repeat issue in Albion’s seven-month winless run at the Pirelli last season, too.

Burton have to manage their efforts over an entire 90 minutes, because they have not yet been ruthless enough to kill games off in a short spell.

Almost all of their games have been in the balance, one way or the other, heading into the final 10 or 15 minutes, so being able to muster an exerted period of pressure at that stage can be crucial – something they achieved on Saturday, finishing strongly with Scott Fraser’s 81stminute goal against Shrewsbury.

With tough-looking away trips to Middlesbrough (in the Carabao Cup) and Luton to follow in the days after Fleetwood, the fitness and energy levels of the Brewers’ squad will be severely tested.

That is unlikely to stop them from looking to hit the Cod Army early on Saturday, though. Joshua Murray