Can Burton find form as Ipswich also hit trouble?
PORTMAN ROAD MEETING SEES TWO SIDES IN NEED OF UPTURN
TOMORROW brings Burton Albion a match against another team whose League One promotion hopes have been dented by a run of indifferent form.
The Brewers are away to Ipswich Town at Portman Road with the Tractor Boys having taken one point from the last 12 and seeking their first win in five games.
Albion, meanwhile, have taken four points from their last five games but are still chasing a first win in six matches.
Having led the table early in the season, Ipswich are now a point outside the play-off places, six points ahead of the Brewers, who have played one game fewer.
But the Tractor Boys’ three most recent losses have come in a punishing run against the in-form front-runners in the table: away 1-0 losses to Rotherham United and Sunderland and a 4-1 defeat at home to a Peterborough United side who have now scored four goals in each of their last three matches.
Brewers boss Nigel Clough thinks Ipswich’s recent results cannot disguise that they remain a good team, although he is still pained by the 1-0 defeat to the Tractor Boys on the opening day of the season.
“It’s still a very talented squad but we have a point to prove after the first day of the season, when we were beaten very unfairly by a deflection,” he said.
“It’s always an enjoyable experience going to Portman Road. It’s one of those proper football clubs, who were at the top level for so long, and it should be enjoyable for our players.”
At home, Ipswich will be favourites against Burton but Clough thinks that is something the Brewers could take advantage of.
“The weight of expectation there and at clubs like Sunderland, when it’s not quite going for you, weighs quite heavily - but once you turn it around and get it going in the right direction, as you see with Sunderland at the moment, then it can be a massive advantage with a big crowd behind you,” he said.
“I don’t think being home or away makes too much difference for us, it’s more about how we go about it.
“If we do our jobs defensively well enough we’ll be OK. I don’t worry about us going forward but I worry, defensively, about us getting that right mentality, which we’ve shown at times but not all the time.”
Jake Buxton (ribs), Stephen Quinn (groin), John-Joe O’Toole (groin) and Colin Daniel (back) all missed Tuesday’s 2-2 draw against Oxford United, while Oliver Sarkic was suspended, but all could be back in contention tomorrow. “They all have a chance of being available,” said Clough.
“That’s how it is at this stage of the season but we hope that, by leaving them out against Oxford, they will be in with a chance for Saturday and the following Saturday.”
I don’t worry about us going forward but I worry, defensively, about us getting that right mentality.
Nigel Clough