JIMMY Floyd Hasselbaink felt Burton Albion found another gear in the second half as his side took a superb 2-0 win away at Rochdale.
In what Hasselbaink described as a “tactical” first half, neither side were able to break the deadlock although the Brewers came closest, with Jonny Smith and Tom Hamer both forcing fine saves from Rochdale keeper Gavin Bazunu prior to the interval.
Those chances came as Albion gained a foothold in the game, Hasselbaink said, and the Brewers boss says his charges were the better team from there and in the second half as Kane Hemmings and Lucas Akins struck to secure all three points and a fourth win in five games.
“It was quite a difficult match (and) in the first half it was quite tactical,” said Hasselbaink.
“They put a midfielder in Conor Shaughnessy up front so they had two big guys up front, it was at times difficult for us.
“They started a little bit more energetically than us but I think we got a foothold in the game in the first half.
“It was not easy but there was not a lot in the game in the first half for both sides.
“In the second half, when we did the substitutions, you could see we had fresh legs on and we found another gear.
“It helps that Kane comes in and he scores a goal, a very important goal, and it was also very good to see Lucas get one.”
Hemmings was introduced just shy of the hour for Mike Fondop with Joe Powell coming on at the same time for Danny Rowe.
And both substitutes earned praise from Hasselbaink, as did the rest of the side.
“It’s always good to have a good bench to change the game,” Hasselbaink said.
“Kane came in, with, I must say, Joe Powell, and they changed the game for the good. In the second half we were more comfortable.
“If I look at the work that my goalkeeper (Ben Garratt) has done today, he’s had nothing to save - if you look at theirs, he has made a couple of saves and we’ve scored two goals.
“In the second half we were the better team, got our two goals and I think overall it was a deserved three points.”