Burton Albion Football Club

Gary Rowett says that his Burton Albion team have put the midweek FA Cup exit behind them, and are ready to kick on in search of promotion from Sky Bet League 2.

“The mood in the camp is fine. I said to the players today that we’ve had a good run in the cups this season and we’ve had some great occasions like Fulham here and Sheffield United away, and they’re good occasions to be part of. 

“We’ve enjoyed it and our season starts now. We have 21 games left and we’re second in the league, so we have everything to be positive about. We said to the lads that we’re going to crack on now and see where it takes us over the last four months of the season,” said Rowett.

The Brewers have benefitted from strength in depth this season, and Rowett is happy to continue to have selection dilemmas.

“I wouldn’t say I get headaches; we’re quite methodical, going through the plusses and minuses of the players. I’ve said all along that the lads outside the team give me more to think about than the players in the team. 

“The likes of Zander and Belly have been out of the side and it’s difficult because you know they want to play, but you can’t give everyone everything. It’s not easy to pick the side but you’d rather have options and disappoint a few,” Rowett said.

With just over two weeks until the end of the transfer window, Rowett is looking to recruit extra players – as long as they’re right for the team.

“I want to bring people in that give us something different, as I don’t see the point in just having bodies in. We’ve lost three players recently but we’ve brought in Zeli and Adam Buxton and if there’s an opportunity to bring more in then we will. It won’t be easy but we’re hopeful of adding someone to make a difference in the next few weeks,” Rowett explained.

The Brewers have never recorded a win against a Bury side struggling towards the bottom of the table. Despite that, Rowett is unconcerned by history and insists his side will go to Bury with a positive attitude.

“Recent results against Bury don’t mean anything to us. We’ll approach it how we normally do. We’re aware they have a new manager in, trying new things and there’s always a chance of them being reinvigorated. They had a poor result against Chesterfield but well treat them with the right respect.

“There was a comment that came out that League Two is like rugby, and I’d certainly like to think we’ve got a bit more than a rugby team. They have some good players and David Flitcroft is a very good manager with higher level experience. 

“The key for us to try and do what we do very well. It’s going to be a very difficult game, we know that and we need to go there and raise the bar with the same energy levels that we normally have,” said Rowett.