Burton Albion Football Club

Burton Albion manager Gary Rowett was a happy man after seeing his side earn a deserved 2-1 victory over Accrington Stanley.

Billy Kee struck twice – once from the spot – to give Albion a first win in five, and Rowett has stressed that points are more important than performances.

“That’s probably the brightest we’ve started a game. We could have been two or three up inside ten minutes, and we wanted to come out quickly and put them under pressure. I spoke to the players and said that at this stage of the season, it’s about winning games. You can look as nice and pretty as you want to but if you don’t win the game it’s irrelevant,” said Rowett.

Kee scored his first of the afternoon just after the half-hour mark, but the Brewers had chances to be ahead before that, and Rowett says the penalty decision that swung the game was fully warranted.

“There were a couple of moments in the game (to take the lead), but I felt there were a lot of shirt pulls from set-pieces, and sometimes the referee has to be brave and make the decisions if you can see them. In the end to be fair to him, he’s given us the key one” Rowett said.

In a game dominated by the hosts, Rowett admits his side need to be more ruthless if they are to rack up more wins in the final third of the season.

“Once more we’ve had 14 attempts on goal and we need to be more ruthless. We had a great chance in the second half and I just felt as though we needed to be more ruthless and kill the game off.

“There was a sense of frustration to be pegged back. When you don’t take your chances early on then it might happen. I wanted to see a really committed performance today – and that isn’t to say we haven’t been recently, but I felt as though today we had more of the ball, more chances and we got the fans behind us,” Rowett added.

Whilst Burton have struggled for goals this season, Kee’s double today takes his tally for the season to 12, and Rowett says that the chances created were down to the hard work of the whole team.

“We’ve struggled for goals a bit and Billy Kee has come in and scored two. I thought he was excellent and worked his socks off. He was a constant handful for their defence and they won’t relish playing him too often. 

“Zeli was a bit quieter, but I thought their left-back played him really well, but that creates space for players in other areas and I felt that one or two players really exploited that well,” he said.

With today’s game bringing to an end a run of four games in 12 days, Rowett is encouraged by today’s performance and wants to carry it forward.

“We needed to end this period on a high, and it turns one or two of the draws into decent points. Accrington have had some terrific results recently and have beaten some good sides, so they aren’t an easy team to play against.

“It was about winning the game. I’m delighted, slightly relieved and pleased that we now get a week’s rest before Oxford.”