A chance to back up significant win
FOR the second weekend in succession, Burton Albion are set to face a League One rival on the same points tally as themselves.
Last Saturday, they leapfrogged Shrewsbury Town with a hardfought 2-1 victory at the Pirelli Stadium.
That win took them level with this weekend’s opponents, Fleetwood Town, on 27 points.
At this stage of the season, teams in the middle positions of a division - as Burton, Fleetwood and Shrewsbury all are - are there because they have lacked one crucial factor. Consistency.
It has been a repeated message of Nigel Clough’s and one he has reiterated before heading to Highbury this weekend.
“It’s very difficult to keep that consistency going,” he said.
“We are striving for it, we can put a couple of good performances in and get a couple of good results, then we have setbacks.
“We are all striving for it in the league and when you’re in that middle section, that can be the difference between getting towards the top six and drifting towards the bottom four.”
There have been several false dawns for Albion so far, when it looked like they were about to make a meaningful move up the table, only to slip up with back-to-back defeats to Southend United and Wycombe Wanderers, or a loss against Peterborough United, or a poor display at Blackpool.
Now Ben Turner has called for them to start acting on all the talk of improving their consistency - and there may be no better time.
The Brewers face a testing preChristmas run.
An historic Carabao Cup quarterfinal at Middlesbrough and a trip to Luton Town, in supreme form at Kenilworth Road, follow the Fleetwood game.
The Boxing Day meeting with inform Wycombe Wanderers looks an intriguing one, although the rise of Gareth Ainsworth’s side into the top 10 has largely been built on their home strength.
But it may be what comes afterwards that catches Clough’s eye and could yet offer Burton the best chance of ensuring they are still in a competitive position as the business end of the campaign approaches.
Between December 29 and February 16, the Brewers face eight of League One’s current bottom nine teams.
Only a trip to Doncaster Rovers, who are currently one place outside the top six, sees Albion come up against a team currently above them in the division.
On paper, that sequence bears similarities with the start of the season, when they stumbled out of the blocks and gave themselves some immediate catching up to do.
Clough’s side lost to Rochdale (18th), Gillingham (16th), Bradford City (24th) and Oxford United (19th) in August.
All of those teams are on the horizon in the first six weeks of 2019, as well as Plymouth Argyle (22nd), Bristol Rovers (21st), AFC Wimbledon (23rd) and Shrewsbury (17th).
Such a sequence does not automatically play into Albion’s hands.
Their inconsistency has translated to performances against the lowerplaced sides too.
They have often struggled in those matches, where the opponent has scrapped and battled them out of the contest.
It is why Saturday’s win over Shrewsbury felt like a significant one, because Burton showcased the gritty qualities they need to mix with their clear technical skills to progress in the division.
The gap to sixth place is at eight points after that result.
If Burton are to heed Turner’s words and begin delivering on what they have been searching for so far this season, it feels like time is of the essence.