Jimmy: Albion got reward for their hard work
BURTON Albion’s players were rewarded for their continued hard work with victory over Portsmouth on Tuesday night, said manager Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.
The Brewers emerged from a run of six games without a win to see off Pompey 2-1 at the Pirelli Stadium, with midfielder Tom O’Connor and striker Daniel Jebbison scoring their first goals for the club.
It was as if the Burton players had rediscovered their mojo as they put Saturday’s faltering display against Lincoln City behind them to win for the fourth time this season in League One.
“We needed a reaction, to show some character, to show a good team performance, working hard and making it really difficult for the opposition and I think we did that,” said Hasselbaink.
“It was important to get the three points. You want that recognition and reward when you are working hard, you want things to go for you.
“They are good lads. We put them through a lot and when you work that hard and don’t get rewarded it’s painful and heads can go down.
“You want them to be rewarded, so they can understand why they are doing it – and they were.”
It was evident that Burton were up for the game from the opening minutes and they harried Portsmouth constantly in possession, twice forcing mistakes which led to goals.
“We played a lot more in their half. we put a lot of energy into pressing, won a lot of balls and we tried to punish them,” said Hasselbaink.
“The pressing was important for us. We wanted to work really hard to earn something out of the game.
“We knew if we did that well, we could give them problems and we were single-minded, which is a big plus for me.”
While he acknowledged that the reunited central midfield pairing of Deji Oshilaja and O’Connor, who started the season together before each was injured, was a big success, the Dutchman was keen to emphasise the team effort.
“I think Tom O’Connor played really well,” said Hasselbaink.
“He tackles, he wins duels, he goes tight and he knows to keep the ball for the same colour.
“He was immense, so was Deji and we needed that, especially against a team like Portsmouth.
“If you have midfielders that can give you the balance, the platform, others can work from that.
“The others too. Charlie Lakin’s energy was very important.
“As a team performance, it was very good. All of the boys were brilliant, those who came on and those who started.
“Our goalkeeper didn’t have a save to make, their goalkeeper did and we scored two good goals.
“It was a brilliant performance and really gives us something to work from.”
The icing on the cake was on-loan teenage striker Jebbison scoring his first goal for the club after missing chances in the previous two games and in the first half against Portsmouth.
Jebbison, whose movement and work-rate had already been notably good, curled in a fine shot from the edge of the box from Tom Hamer’s pass after an hour.
“He picked the most difficult chance and he put it away magnificently,” said Hasselbaink.
“It was important for us after Saturday that he played straight away and got another chance.
“That’s what strikers need. I was pleased with his work-rate and he took his goal ever so well.”
Jebbison conceded the free kick from which the visitors scored, collecting a booking, and was substituted immediately.
”He was knackered, he was gone,” explained Hasselbaink.
“All the adrenaline, too, when you have scored puts an extra tiredness on top of you.”
Portsmouth manager Danny Cowley admitted his team had been second best in the game.
“We came up well short and we are disappointed,” he said.
“I didn’t think we played with the energy, intensity, the quality that we would expect.
“Credit to Burton, I thought they played with a progression and a purpose and pressed us incredibly well.
“We weren’t able to find the solutions and that is disappointing.”