501-day wait over as Albion take on the Foxes
A HANDFUL of determined Burton Albion supporters made it down to the south coast for the club’s preseason friendly against Bognor Regis Town.
There were a few at Nuneaton Town’s ground before that – but none were allowed to attend Tuesday’s friendly away to Scunthorpe United.
Tomorrow, though, we have the real thing.
A home match, Premier League opposition in Leicester City, tickets on sale and the first time supporters will have been allowed to watch a game at the Pirelli Stadium for 501 days.
It will be a momentous occasion for those who, first of all, attend preseason friendlies regularly anyway and, secondly, for those who actually feel comfortable about being in a crowd at this stage.
Quite plainly, Covid-19 has not gone away but the extent to which it is on the retreat depends on whose rhetoric and whose graphs you choose to believe.
It is hard to guess how many supporters might attend tomorrow but the authenticity of the match is beyond question.
Yes, it is still only a friendly and the result will ultimately have no bearing on how either team do when their respective leagues start.
But this will be the most telling friendly of the four so far for the Brewers, as manager Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink acknowledged.
“The quality of the opposition will change (against Leicester) and on Saturday we will have to defend as a team a little bit more,” he said after Tuesday night’s 2-1 defeat at Scunthorpe.
“The organisation has to be better but it’s still pre-season. We have to work on certain things and that’s what we’re going to do. That’s why we have these matches.”
Hasselbaink felt his team showed signs of the hard work he had put them through against Scunthorpe.
“The boys have worked really hard in training. You can see they have heavy legs and it’s not easy – but that’s what we want,” he said.
“It’s not the result we wanted but it’s not about the result, it’s about the work-out.
“There are certain areas that we need to improve in, but we are still happy with where we are.”
The enticing prospect for supporters is that the Leicester game might give some clues to the potential starting line-up when the real business starts.
There are many things to consider. Whereas, in the first two friendlies, most players had 45 minutes on the pitch, on Tuesday night there was only one change at half-time, Cameron Borthwick-jackson replacing the evening’s only trialist, widely believed to be the former Stoke City, Birmingham City and Derby County defender Ryan Shotton.
Almost an hour had gone before Jacob Maddox replaced Bryn Morris, then further changes came at 68, 74 and 80 minutes, so players generally had more than an hour.
New midfielder Tom O’connor played the 90, as did on-loan goalkeeper Ellery Balcombe.
It is easy to wonder if Balcombe is playing himself into the frame as first choice: it would be strange for him to come from Brentford on a season-long loan and spend that season on the bench.
Based only on the evidence of the friendlies to date, will club captain John Brayford struggle for a start this season, with Tom Hamer ensconced in his natural right-back slot?
Is it possible that goalkeeper Kieran O’hara might move on, if it appears that he may be third choice?
It seems more likely that Josh Parker may move on. The experienced forward was out of favour towards the end of last season and is not featuring in the pre-season games.
Michael Mancienne has been captaining the side in the friendlies and looks nailed on to be a regular in the side. Morris, O’connor, Hamer, Conor Shaughnessy, Omari Patrick, Jonny Smith, Kane Hemmings and Louis Moult all look in pole position to play. But that said, it remains too early to be sure – whoever lines up tomorrow.