The keeper next in line to face might of nine-goal Leicester
Burton’s Kieran O’hara tells John Percy it may have been a good thing they missed seeing rout
Leicester City’s stunning 9-0 demolition of Southampton on Friday night equalled a Premier League record and could easily have condemned Kieran O’hara to a few sleepless nights. So it was perhaps for the best that Burton Albion’s preparations for the visit of Brendan Rodgers’s upwardly mobile team suffered a technical hitch.
“We were in our hotel the night before our game against Blackpool on Saturday and unfortunately they didn’t have Sky.
“Maybe it was a good thing that we weren’t able to watch Leicester,” recalls O’hara, the Burton goalkeeper signed on loan from Manchester United.
“I was following the updates on Twitter and couldn’t believe it when the goals were flying in. Leicester are a really strong force in the Premier League and have picked up under Brendan Rodgers.
“But every game is different and we just focus on ourselves, we can’t worry about anyone else.”
O’hara, 23, will undoubtedly be a busy man tonight and is the goalkeeper charged with trying to keep Leicester at bay after their mauling of Southampton, which included hat-tricks from Jamie Vardy and Ayoze Perez.
With Rodgers not expected to make many changes to his team, this fourth-round Carabao Cup tie could be a daunting prospect for the Brewers, who sit 13th in League One.
But Burton’s excellent record in this competition provides hope, after the Staffordshire club reached last season’s semi-finals, where they fell to Manchester City.
Last month Bournemouth became the latest big scalp for Nigel Clough and his big-game hunters, joining Burnley, Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest and Middlesbrough, who were sent spinning out of the competition last season.
That victory over Bournemouth was a bizarre experience, with three separate floodlight failures plunging the Pirelli Stadium into darkness for 28 minutes in total, due to multiple power cuts in the nearby Stretton area.
“It was a strange evening, we didn’t know what was going on and whether it was going to be called off,” says O’hara, laughing at the memory. “When the lights went off for the last time we thought it was going to be abandoned. But the lads did fantastically well to keep their heads and see the game out. I don’t think the floodlight failure overshadowed the night, it was the same for both teams.”
Burton are now under the spotlight once again and if they beat Leicester it would unquestionably rank as the biggest shock of Clough’s reign so far.
“The record in this competition just shows the quality Burton have in the squad,” says O’hara.
“It’s a fantastic club, it’s well run and the manager and players are all pulling in the same direction. So this is a big test for us to see where we’re at against some of the best players in the Premier League.
“It would be an amazing achievement for us if we were to get something out of the game.”
Burton is O’hara’s latest stop in his ambition to become a Premier League goalkeeper, ideally for parent club United, after joining them seven years ago from local team Urmston Town.
Last season he played 42 games on loan at Macclesfield, playing a key role in Sol Campbell’s great escape and sweeping the board at the end-of-season player awards.
He signed for Burton in July and has impressed under Clough, keeping eight clean sheets already this season (including four in his past five games).
“You’ve got to take responsibility for your own development and I’m in regular contact with Les Parry [United’s loans manager], getting feedback from the club. There is never any sense that you’re away and forgotten, you still feel part of Manchester United,” he says.
“It’s something they pride themselves on, that you’re being watched regularly and they are keeping track of your progression.
“Playing in League One was naturally the next step in my career. I played a lot of games at Macclesfield last season and felt comfortable, so playing in the level above was the plan.
“The ultimate goal is to play in the Premier League. I’m fully focused on helping Burton, but I’ve never shied away from my ambition which is to play at the very top level. It’s something
I think I’m capable of.”
Against Rodgers’s rampant Leicester, this latest challenge represents a huge opportunity for O’hara to shine.