JIMMY Floyd Hasselbaink hopes a short break away from football will have refreshed his squad ready for the run in to the end of the season.
The Brewers travel to Accrington tomorrow and then are at home to Swindon on Easter Monday with both games being streamed live on iFollow Brewers.
The manager said: “I do think we were getting tired, and I could see that I needed to rest a few and give them some days off. The mental aspect is very tough, and you could see the boys peaked really well and maintained that level, but the amount of games took its toll.
“Hopefully, this short break and being able to give them time off helps.
“My experience from when I was playing was that after a break you crave for the ball again, you miss it and hopefully they have that, and we can now go on to have a very good end to the season.
“It’s always better to go into a break having won and normally when you lose you want to quickly play again to put it right. But we didn’t have that opportunity.
“How we lost the last two games doesn’t really reflect how we have been playing. As much as it’s very disappointing, we need to learn from what we have done wrong and put it right tomorrow.”
Accrington’s injury ravaged squad lost heavily to Peterborough while Albion were on the international break but Hasselbaink isn’t expecting an easy ride tomorrow.
“I expect a reaction from them. When you get hit like that you want a reaction from the players and knowing John Coleman, who I respect a lot, I’m sure he will fire them up. We have to be prepared for that and ready for that. They are always difficult to play at home and we have to be up for the task.”
Hasselbaink was also able to give an update on two injured members of the squad – Colin Daniel and Dillon Barnes.
Daniel had been suffering from back problems but is inching back to fitness.
Hasselbaink said: “Colin starting running today with the group. He had an injection in his back and fingers crossed that is now settling and he’s going in the right direction.”
On-loan keeper Barnes is yet to play for the Brewers after picking up an ankle injury.
Hasselbaink said: “He’s not quite ready yet and is still back at QPR. I think next week he will come back and start training with us and then he will need two weeks."
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