BURTON Albion bowed out of the FA Cup after Port Vale came from behind to secure a 2-1 victory.
Albion were playing into a strong headwind but still went ahead on 23 minutes with a well-worked goal from Ryan Leak.
The Brewers were looking good for a Third Round spot until two goals in three minutes from Dennis Politic turned the match on its head.
Brewers manager Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink said: “I don’t think we were great. I don’t think we can be at 60 per cent, we are not good enough to only be at that level and beat teams like Port Vale.
“They won the midfield and the second balls, and we dwelt too much on the ball and didn’t pick the right passes. We had too many turnovers and we can’t depend all the time on our keeper making saves.
“Nevertheless, when you are winning 1-0 and getting chances you need to take them as good teams get to 2-0 and then the game settles down and you can pick them off. But we didn’t do that, and they kept on believing.
Hasselbaink said that his team were up for the game physically but after winning the two previous home games were not there mentally today.
He said: “Winning games is hard, it’s not easy. Having a habit of winning games is even harder. But if you want to achieve something you need to be at it every game. Each one is different, and I don’t think we did enough to win the game and good teams even if they aren’t at their best make sure 1-0 is enough.”