Buxton backing Blues boss to get ‘reaction’ from players as they get set for Burton trip
JAKE BUXTON believes that Kenny Jackett will get a 'reaction' out of his Pompey troops against Burton.
The Blues have started the League One season in lacklustre form, having failed to win any of their opening three matches.
As a result, Pompey languish in the relegation zone, with the pressure ramping up on Jackett to be sacked by fans.
There have been some questions over whether the Blues boss has lost the support of his players
Jackett's adamant that hasn't happened, though, and called for unity ahead of the trip to the Pirelli Stadium.
And Buxton feels Pompey will be hungry to finally kickstart their campaign.
Speaking to Burton's website, the boss said:
‘They have not had a great start. They have changed formation a couple of times watching over the clips.
‘But Kenny Jackett sides have always been hard to beat and I expect he will get a reaction out of his players and it will be a tough game.
‘They have some good players, as do the majority of teams in League One. We look at where we can hurt the opposition and we will make our lads aware of what problems they might cause us – including early balls into the box and one on ones down the flanks.
‘They have quite a few threats, but they will be thinking the same about us.’
Two Burton old boys head back to their former club.
Tom Naylor and Marcus Harness both moved to Fratton Park from the Brewers in 2018 and 2019 respectively.
Buxton's wary of their quality – particularly Harness' pace on the counter-attack – and the ex-Brewers man enjoyed his best-ever scoring season last term. He netted nine times in all competitions in the previous campaign.
That was more than the six Harness managed during his six years in the Burton senior set up after graduating from the Academy. But Buxton’s focus is on his own side.
He added: ‘Marcus is electric with his pace and on the break.
‘They are both good players we have to be aware of but more importantly it’s about making Portsmouth aware of us as a team as we have played some cracking football up to now and scored some great goals.
‘It’s just about making sure we are solid, hard to beat and get that clean sheet we are craving.’