THE Brewers face their toughest week of games so far this season, say Nigel Clough.
Albion face promotion chasing Huddersfield and Newcastle away and then Aston Villa at home in the next three games.
Clough said: “The week coming up puts into perspective what it means for Burton Albion being in the Championship. We had little clusters of fixtures earlier in the season but none more difficult than the next three. It shows how difficult it is for us in this league but also that we should be looking forward to it – going to St James’ Park in front of 50,000 and a full house here against Aston Villa– that’s why we want to be in this division.
“With 41 points with eight games to go – we would have taken that at the start of the season. We have always been aiming for 50 points, although we don’t know that will now be enough this season.
“It’s very tight down there and we probably have the hardest three games coming up of anyone down there but after that we have a good run in.
“Anything we can get out of the next three games will be a bonus - Aston Villa are much improved after a little bit of a blip at the turn of the year. But the next two away games will be as hard as any we have faced.”
It’s a repeat of the three games played in December when Albion lost in each fixture despite playing well.
Cough said: “We deserved something from all of them – even three draws would have made a big difference in the table for us. Now at this stage of this season it’s not about playing well and performances just about getting points.”