Burton Albion Football Club

Gary Rowett was pleased that the Brewers were able to continue their unbeaten run to five games. The Brewers at times were not at their best and Rowett believes it was his side's poor start that cost them all three points at Rodney Parade.  

"I wouldn't say it was a horrendous performance," he told Brewers Player.

"But we weren't quite at the races and we didn't do what we'd spoken about before the game as we should have done.

"We came under a little bit of pressure in the first half and I felt we rode that for five/ten minutes, but to concede the goal in the way we did was very sloppy. 

"It was sloppy in the buildup, sloppy from defending the throw-in and we couldn't really argue being a goal down."

Newport started the match without a win so far this season and Rowett thought the crowd helped them to get off to a positive start. 

"You know you're going to get a intimidating atmosphere and you know they're going to try and use that feeling the crowd build up before the game. 

"I felt the crowd support was very good considering they hadn't won, but we played into their hands.

"That's where you clear you lines and don't let them build any momentum as you don't want to be pinned in. 

"We didn't clear our lines well enough early on and we played too many sideways passes, too many backwards passes which allowed them to press and get on the front foot. 

"We spoke about it at halftime and i just said we've got to do things better, we've got to play forward quicker and with a bit more quality, as at times when we did play it forward it wasn't the right type of ball."

Despite the draw Rowett believes his side could have taken all three points. An excellent threw ball from Beavon released Akins on goal, who moved on to his right foot and dinked it over the oncoming goalkeeper to see his effort bounce off the outside of the post.

"Second half we came into the game a little bit and chased it as we had to. We showed a lot of character and in the end if i'm being greedy we could have nicked the three points with Lucas' chance.

"It was a difficult one, because when you see that dinked finish go wide you think the firmer shot would have been better, but we've done well to get into that position. Bev (Stuart Beavon) did well as he's ended up putting Lucas in, but it didn't quite have the legs to run away from people. He was waiting for the defender, got across him and showed good composure, but it was just lacking the finish which hit the outside of the post. 

"I think he'll be disappointed he didn't score to round it off, but I think to be fair to Justin's side it was a fair reflection of the 90 minutes."

Rowett though was happy with a valuable point and he knows he has a side that can get results when the team isn't at their best. 

"I'm pleased with the way we responded and we got stronger as the game went on.

"It's a sign of a team with character, a sign of a team with good determination in terms of not playing anywhere near as well as we want to play. To come away with a point and be disappointed to not nick all three in the end shows signs of improvement from last year's side. "