YOUNG Brewers centre-backs Finn Delap and William Tamen emphasised the importance of missed opportunities in the game after their 2-0 loss at home to Doncaster Rovers on Friday.
Even though Burton Albion's Professional Development Phase side conceded two sloppy goals handing Rovers the win, both Tamen and Delap saw encouraging signs as the team created some good chances and played good football at times.
In his post-match interview, Tamen said: “We started the first half well, we judged the momentum and played our game, but when we came back out, they were on it more than us and we couldn’t get our momentum back.”
However, he was keen to acknowledge the chances they created, saying: “We did have chances that’s the annoying thing. Then a mistake comes, you go down 1-0 then 2-0 and the players feel disappointed and it’s hard to get back into the game when you know you’ve had these chances and missed them.”
Skipper Finn Delap also saw some of the positives from the game and highlighted the impressive first half performance as his centre-back partner Tamen did.
After the game, Delap said: “It’s a way for the boys to learn, we had a lot of possession in the first half but we just need to learn that two sloppy goals and not finishing our chances in the final third isn’t going to win us the game. I hope the boys are going to learn from it and take it into the next game.”
Despite it still being relatively early on in the season, Delap echoed the comments of PDP Lead Coach Keith Gilroy when asked if there’s still a bit of early season rust in the team.
Delap said: “I feel like everyone’s had enough time to be switched on enough for any situation, we’ve had a couple games now in the league so I feel like it was just a one off day. The boys have been sharp in training but it hasn’t worked out for us on the weekend.”
Finally, the captain was asked about the goals for the season and said: “We’ve all said at the end of the season we want to be top five when the league splits into a merit league, so we’re aiming to be in that top five and then hopefully push for the top two at the end.”