THE next eight games are the most important the majority of the Burton Albion players have ever faced, says Nigel Clough.
The Albion boss sees his squad return from the international break looking to shake off the 5-3 defeat against Brentford and he has spelled out what now faces his team.
“We have told them not to make the Brentford second half the defining moment of the season. They have been too good for that and there has been too many positive things. We want the last eight games to be what defines the season.
“We have told them to make sure they are ready as these are the most important eight games of a lot of people’s careers. We want them to be ready mentally and physically to fight and scrap and do whatever we can to get the points.
“We probably needed a break to get over that last result, well at least the second half. I don’t think anyone saw that coming and there may have been an air of complacency. We had done so well for six and a half games that I don’t think anyone in the ground saw us conceding four goals in the second half. But we knocked off a little bit and Brentford took full advantage.
“Sometimes you get all the rubbish out of the way in one 45 minutes and then you get back to doing what you did before.
“We have said ‘that’s behind us now – make sure you are ready for the last eight games’.”