JAKE Buxton was proud of the effort his team put in before losing to Premier League Aston Villa by conceding two late goals.
The Brewers had taken an early lead but Buxton concedes that his troops "ran out of steam" in the closing stages as Villa's quality gave them the edge over the valiant effort of Albion.
The manager said: "There was tremendous effort and desire to work hard and we played some great football at times but ultimately conceded two goals late on which we are disappointed with.
"I'm proud of the performance. We got the ball down and played the correct way which we have done for the last three or four years. When we lost the ball we made sure we were compact, organised and disciplined and we give everything we have got. We emptied the tank and I think you saw that on 85 minutes that our lads had done that.
"We have no qualms in terms of effort and performance. We are disappointed that it's another set play that has cost us but ultimately the quality of Jack Grealish was what counted.
"Physically and mentally we looked drained in that last five minutes. Stephen Quinn was struggling and should have come off but his desire to carry on is amazing."
It was a strong Villa team that made the difference.
"They had a lot of quality," said Buxton,"they moved us around and controlled the game but we also felt that we were well in the game until those last few minutes and the quality they brought off the bench in terms of fresh legs hurt us as well."
Buxton was delighted with the opening goal from Colin Daniel.
He said: "Colin has been tremendous waiting for an opportunity and he started the game tremendously well. He's big, strong, quick and he needs to take this opportunity, claim a shirt and hold onto it."
The loss of Michael Bostwick to a calf injury was an early blow for the Brewers.
Buxton said: "We lost Neal Eardley on Saturday and we have now lost Michael. It was Ryan Edwards' first start and he had to come off or run the risk of injury so we are disappointed to lose the bodies as Accrington on Saturday is a big game for us. We will be really thin for players. We looked fine but a couple of Saturday-Tuesdays and we look thin with only 13 senior players available tonight.
"We will try and get bodies in before the weekend if we can."