"They are definitely not the worst side we have played"
Kayode Odejayi's 30 yard thunderbolt on Saturday changed the complexion of the game from almost nowhere and Albion were grateful to a second penalty save in a week from keeper Jon McLaughlin to keep them ahead in the second half.Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink said “I must say Tranmere had a good side.”
“They are definitely not the worst side we have played.
“We knew that it was going to be difficult.
“We knew that they can play football and they can give you problems, we knew that.
“It was always going to be a hard game.”
Two goals in four first half minutes from Damien McCrory and Lucas Akins had the Brewers almost cruising to another three points with barely a quarter of the game gone. A third goal was needed to kill the game off and Nasser El Khayati provided a superb finish to wrap up the points although Adam Dugdale's late own goal put the gloss on a fine afternoon for the Brewers and a dreadful one for Rovers as Burton eventually ran out 4-1 victors.
Hasselbaink was pleased with his side’s clinical finishing and says that they looked really dangerous.
“We took our chances really well.
“1-0 and then 2-0 were taken really well and we looked sometimes when we were breaking, really dangerous with one or two touches and were really quick so I must say yes they gave us trouble, we held on.
“It was always going to be a difficult game for us because we had a game on Wednesday and they played on Tuesday to they had an extra day.”
Three changes were forced upon Brewers boss Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink for the tricky trip to Prenton Park.
The failure to overturn Robbie Weir's red card against Southend on Wednesday denied the midfielder a chance to play against one of his former sides so Matty Palmer returned to the starting line-up in a central role. Injury denied another former Tranmere man, Adam McGurk from facing his former employers so El Khayati pushed up into a more attacking role alongside Stuart Beavon.
With changes to the side and the first time Hasselbaink has changed the back four in eight games, he knew his side had to be strategically right but admits at times they made the wrong decisions.
“We knew that we had to be strategically right and not just spill our energy and I must say we didn’t.
“We looked at times good but at times we made the wrong decision but I must say the humanity is really good and that took us over the edge.”