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| Blount returns for 'Fleet clash |
| Long
serving defender Mark Blount is back at Eton Park after a two-month loan
spell with John Barton's Worcester City. Blount (pictured) has been recalled to the Brewers squad as Nigel Clough attempts to patch together a squad for tomorrow's crunch relegation six-pointer at Gravesend & Northfleet (3pm), in the face of a long list of absences caused by injury, suspension and illness. Clough's attempt to bring in Kidderminster Harriers' striker Ian Foster, reported here on Wednesday, has been rebuffed, with the 27-year old turning down a move to Eton Park, with the Brewers boss left hoping that one of five offers for loan players would be accepted before today's 3pm deadline to play on Saturday. |
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| The
Brewers travel to Kent with Clough himself, Paul Talbot and Craig Dudley
all suspsended, Neil Glasser absent with a back injury, and doubts about
the fitness of Andy Sinton and Andy Ducros, who have hamstring and knee injuries
respectively. As if that wasn't enough, long term casualty Glenn Kirkwood (stress fracture) is joined on the sidelines by Sean Farrell who's suffering from a knee complaint, and Dale Anderson, who's ruled out with gastroenteritis. On the bright side, 'keeper Matt Duke came successfully through the reserves match against Stafford Rangers on Wednesday night, and should make his first team return at Stonebridge Road tomorrow. |
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| Another loan signing |
| Nigel
Clough is hoping to make another raid on Kidderminster Harriers by bringing
striker Ian Foster to Eton Park in a loan deal. Foster, 27, whose goals helped Harriers to the Conference title back in 2000, has been told he doesn't feature in Harriers' boss Ian Britton's plans, and could be re-united with fellow Harriers reject Andy Ducros in time for Albion's trip to fellow relegation candidates Gravesend & Northfleet on Saturday. Clough said that Foster was one of a group of players he'd been keeping an eye on for some time, and brushed off any suggestion of 'panic buying' in an attempt to bring a halt to Albion's wretched recent league form, which has seen them pick up just one point from their past six games. |
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| "It's
not a case of us jumping in for the first player who comes along because
we've lost a few games," Clough told the Burton Mail, "Ian
is someone on a list of possibly 30 players we've seen over a period of two
or three years who we have kept tabs on because they might become
available." "If we do get him it will be a loan deal initially, but it is possible that we might be able to work something out like we did in bringing Andy Ducros to Burton permanently." |
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Tonight's
Mail also reports that Clough is hoping to bring in another loan signing
- a midfielder - ahead of Saturday's game. Meanwhile heading out of Eton
Park is midfielder Steve Evans, whose loan signing to Tamworth has
been made permanent. Evans, who joined Albion from Aston Villa on the eve of last season, was an integral part of the side which cruised to the UniBond League championship, and this season wrote himself into Albion history by scoring the Brewers' first ever Conference goal. He failed to find a regular place in the side this season however, and since joining Tamworth on loan has helped the Lambs into a strong position to follow Albion into the Conference. |
In other news, you can see Brewers 'keeper Matt Duke make his comeback from injury tonight (Wednesday 7.45pm) when he lines up for the reserves against Stafford Rangers, in a squad which will also include Nigel Clough and Craig Dudley. |
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| Clough blasts ref |
| Brewers
boss Nigel Clough has bemoaned his side's luck in Saturday's 1-0 defeat at
Doncaster Rovers, citing another dubious refereeing decision as a factor
in the result, relating to Paul Barnes' 54th minute goal for
Donny.
"We have two
gripes about the goal," Clough told the Burton Mail, "First
we thought the ball was out of play when it was driven across, and secondly
we thought it was offside. If the referee and linesman weren't in a position
to give the out-of-play, then we don't know why they didn't give the
offside." |
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| "Defensively
we looked solid and dealt with the majority of things they had to throw at
us, and going forward we were reasonably bright," he said. "We're encouraged by our last two performances even though we've not taken a point or scored a goal. What is important is that the spirit is still there and nobody is throwing in the towel. "But we now need points rather than performances, which means next time out we've got a very big game at Gravesend." Meanwhile, loan goalkeeper Lee Camp has been recalled by Derby County as cover for the Rams' injured second choice 'keeper Andy Oakes. Camp made five league and one FA Trophy appearance in his spell at Eton Park, after arriving in mid January as temporary replacement for the injured Matt Duke. Duke, who sustained a broken arm in the New Year's Day match with Nuneaton Borough, is set to play for the reserves against Stafford on Wednesday, and could make his first team return in the relegation six-pointer at Gravesend on Saturday. |
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| Donny defeat for Brewers |
| A
second half goal from Paul Barnes condemned Albion to their fifth defeat
in six league outings, but there were positive signs in the Brewers' performance,
while there was a debut for new signing Ben Petty, who played the last half
hour of the game at Belle Vue. Christian Moore almost gave the Brewers a dream start inside 30 seconds, heading narrowly over the bar with Donny 'keeper Andy Warrington beaten, while the best chances for the home side fell to Barnes and Justin Jackson, both of whom missed the target from good scoring positions. The only goal of the match came on 54 minutes, Barnes getting on the end of Paul Green's cross to sidefoot home from close range, and despite late efforts from Andy Ducros and a header from susbtitute Sean Farrell, Albion were unable to bring their losing run to an end, and Donny moved into second place in the Conference, closing the gap on leaders Yeovil to nine points, with a game in hand. |
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| Brewers
defender Terry Henshaw felt that Albion could have got something from
the game: "They're a full-time side with a bigger squad than us and they
train every day... but we've competed and we could have nicked a draw in
the end," he told Centre FM. Henshaw described next weekend's trip to fellow relegation strugglers Gravesend & Northfleet as a 'six pointer', saying, "It's a big match for us.. we've got 10 or 11 games left and we've just got to get our heads down and battle... If we play in the same manner we did today, with 100 percent commitment I'm sure we can get a result down there." Of the teams immediately behind the Brewers, who remain 16th in the table, Gravesend went down 2-1 at Telford while Woking suffered a 6-0 home drubbing at the hands of Morecambe. |
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| Petty hopes to break Donny hearts |
| Nigel
Clough has made another addition to his injury and suspension-ravaged squad
with the signing for former Aston Villa, Stoke City and Hull City man Ben
Petty. 25-year old Petty (pictured), who can play as a central defender or midfielder was released by Hull in December after failing to catch the eye of the Tigers' new manager Peter Taylor, and has subsequently enjoyed loan spells with the Brewers' former Dr. Martens League rivals Stafford Rangers and Moor Green. Petty made 50 first team appearances for Stoke City and more than 30 for Hull, and joins the Brewers on a non-contract basis, with Nigel Clough saying: "He could be with us for weeks or the rest of the season, but it is also an opportunity for him to impress with next season in mind." |
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| Tonight's
Burton Mail also reports that Clough's attempts to bring a midfielder
and striker to Eton Park have stalled again, but the Brewers boss hopes to
have at least one further signing in place in time for the trip to Gravesend
& Northfleet a week on Saturday. A more pressing concern is tomorrow's (Saturday) trip to Belle Vue to take on Doncaster Rovers (3pm) a daunting prospect at the best of time but even more so with Donny riding high in the table and looking to tighten their grip on one of the four Conference play-off places. Albion will be without four first team regulars - Neil Glasser and Glen Kirkwood sit the game out through injury, while Paul Talbot and Stuart Reddington are both suspended. Colin Hoyle and Aaron Webster are expected to return to the back four in place of the latter two, while there could be a place on the bench for 'keeper Matt Duke. Duke was due to make his comeback, after a seven-week lay-off with a broken arm, in the reserves match at Hednesford in midweek, but the game was called off due to frost. He is likely to make an appearance in Tuesday's reserve match against Stafford however, with a first team comeback at Gravesend a possibility if all goes well. |
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| Duke set for comeback |
| Brewers'
keeper Matt Duke will take a step closer to a return to the first team tonight
(Wednesday) when he lines up for the Brewers reserves in their visit to
Hednesford Town. Duke has been out of action since sustaining a broken arm in the New Year's Day derby with Nuneaton Borough, and his presence between the sticks has been sorely missed in the seven weeks ssince, with the Brewers picking up just one league point out of a possible fifteen, and being knocked out of three cup competitions in his absence. Duke was spotted training with the first team last week, but tonight will be his first game since his injury - he is expected to play half of Albion's Central Conference trip to Keys Park, and Brewers boss Nigel Clough has hinted that Duke could be included in the first team squad for Saturday's trip to Doncaster Rovers. |
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| Clough
told the Burton Mail: "Matt has been fine in training and has not
been suffering any reaction to the injury. We will probably give him and
Dan Robinson 45 minutes each tonight and if all goes well, Matt could possibly
be on the bench for Saturday." |
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| Clough looking on bright side |
| Nigel
Clough has been putting a positive spin on Saturday's 2-0 defeat at Forest
Green Rovers, heralding an improved performance by his team after the Telford
debacle. "We thought we deserved a point at least and looked as though we were going to get it," Clough told the Burton Mail, "The lateness of their goals just made it that little bit more frustrating for us as until then we had defended very well and we can't remember Lee Camp having a save to make. "Unfortunately, Darren Wassall, who had been superb, didn't quite deal with a situation and we were one down just when we thought we might go on and nick it ourselves. But after conceding seven goals in our last game, it was still a good recovery from our point of view." |
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| The
Brewers boss was disappointed with the sending-off of Craig Dudley, the eighth
of the season for his side, but felt that the striker had been harshly treated,
not for the first time this season: "Craig shouldn't have done what he did but the sending off was still very, very harsh," said Clough, "The first yellow card was just for bundling into somebody and then the ref said he adopted an agressive attitude after being fouled himself. But he didn't raise his hands or anything like that. "He just put his chest into the chest of their lad which you see in every game every week of the season.What we couldn't understand was that the Forest Green player did the same, but only got a yellow card for the foul. We don't think referees are doing us any favours at all at the moment." |
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| Dudley sees red |
| The
worrying drift toward the Conference relegation mire continued at the Lawn
on Saturday as two late goals from hosts Forest Green Rovers condemned Albion
to another defeat, the Brewers having to play more than two thirds of the
game with ten men after having a man sent off for the second week running. Craig Dudley was the early bather this time, receiving two yellow cards in as many minutes, the first for a foul on Alex Meechan, the second soon after following his part in a clash with Martin Foster, leaving the Brewers facing a backs-to-the-wall operation for the best part of the game. Neither side threatened greatly in a largely uninspiring contest, Albion's best chances being created by new boy Andy Ducros, who finally put pen to paper on Thursday evening to sign a deal which keeps him at Eton Park until the end of the 2004-2005 season, while Nigel Clough and Christian Moore both threatened Rovers' veteran 'keeper Steve Perrin. |
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| A
nil-nil draw always looked the most likely result, but the ten men Brewers'
brave resistance was finally broken five minutes from the end, Rob Cook getting
on the end of Kevin Langan's cross to head past Camp, and the salt in the
wounds came when Steve Tweddle netted 'Green's second in injury time. A largely favourable set of results involving the teams in Albion's half of the table prevents the Brewers from slipping any further down the table, but they now find themselves just six points clear of the relegation zone. While the campaign has been marked by the Brewers' dismal home form, in sharp contrast to last year, an almost equally worrying aspect of this, the Brewers first season in the Conference has been the amount of red cards handed out to a team which in recent years has consistently been at the top of the fair play table - Dudley's dismissal on Saturday being their eighth sending-off of the season. This is just one of the issues Nigel Clough will have to address as he negotiates arguably the most testing period of his managership, and the games don't get any easier - the Brewers boss will be pleased to come away with anything from this coming Saturday's trip to Belle Vue to take on high flying Doncaster Rovers (3pm). |
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| Ducros deal imminent |
| Nigel
Clough is set to secure the signing of Kidderminster Harriers midfielder
Andy Ducros on a permanent transfer, ahead of Saturday's trip to Forest Green
Rovers. 25-year old Ducros has been the subject of transfer speculation for several weeks, as Clough attempted to tie up a short-term loan deal to bring the 25-year old to Eton Park until the end of the season. But now the Brewers boss plans to secure the midfielder's services on a long-term deal: "Everything between Andy and ourselves is agreed," Clough told the Burton Mail, "He just has a few loose ends to tie up at Kidderminster but hopefully all that will need to be done tomorrow (Friday) is dot the i's and cross the t's." |
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| Ducros is
Kidderminster's record signing, having joined the Division Three side from
Nuneaton Borough for £80,000 in the Summer of 2000, but despite his
undoubted talent, the former England youth international has failed to make
a mark at Aggborough. He recently returned to his former club on loan, and
played for Boro against the Brewers in the two matches over the festive
period. Meanwhile, plans to further boost the squad after Saturday's 7-4 drubbing against Telford have met with frustration, with the Clough revealing that the attempted loan signing of a central defender has drawn a blank, but the Brewers boss says he does hope to secure the services of a striker by next week. "If we do get the player in mind, he's someone who is out of contract at the end of the season, so now would be an ideal time to have a look at him," revealed Clough. |
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| Bucking hell! |
| The
last time Telford United came to Burton, in January 1996, infamous referee
Brian Coddington and his over-active red card helped to conjur up one
of the most amazing games ever seen at Eton Park, with Albion coming from
behind in the dying stages to overhaul the eight-man Bucks. Seven years on, and it was Albion who came off worse from an equally bizzare and unpredictable contest, although this time chronic defensive shortcomings rather than dodgy officialdom was the crucial factor as the Brewers crashed to a sensational 7-4 defeat, the nadir (we hope) of a season in which Fortress Eton Park has become a place where visiting teams are almost guaranteed to come away with a result. |
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| It
begin, as most Conference games at Eton Park have tended to do, with the
Brewers trailing - Kevin Davies' inswinger on 16 minutes somehow evading
both home defenders and away attackers to creep inside Lee Camp's goalpost,
Martin Barlow doubling the Telford lead two minutes later with a 25-yard
thunderbolt. Darren Stride pulled one back for the Brewers five minutes later, but Telford regained their two-goal deficit, and looked likely to gallop further off into the distance, Mark Foran heading in Barlow's cross with the help of a deflection, and Gareth Hanmer curling home a long-range free-kick after Neil Glasser was somewhat harshly adjudged to have fouled David Brown. And the drama continued into first half injury time. Bucks 'keeper Paul Edwards dived the right way to save Christian Moore's penalty, given after a handball by Barlow, but moments later Albion had a second bite at the cherry, Moore upended by Foran, and this time Craig Dudley making no mistake from the penalty spot. Half time provided only a brief respite from the thrills and sprills, Telford's Paul Moore rocking the crossbar just a couple of minutes into the second period, before the action switched to the other end, and an unlikely Albion comeback. |
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Albion
had no sooner regained a foothold in the game, Christian Moore directing
Stuart Reddington's header from Sinton's 53rd minute corner corner into the
net, before they were dealt another blow - Paul Talbot shown a straight red
card for a late tackle on Jordan King. Memories of that fightback seven years ago came flooding back as, undaunted by this latest setback, the Brewers surged back to 4-4, Christian Moore racing on to Clough's defence-splitting pass to slot past Edwards. But it proved to be a false dawn as Telford's incisive attacking play soon saw the ten-man Brewers punished once more. Paul Moore cut inside his marker to reinstate the visitors' lead on 66 minutes. |
| The
game was up for Albion five minutes from time as David Brown's header came
back off the crossbar, and Moore headed in the rebound for his second. Albion's humiliation was complete in injury time when Jordan King robbed Henshaw to slot home past the luckless Camp, to complete a scoreline which the identical scoreline but in reverse of the supporters match played in the morning before the match. Some of Albion's defending wouldn't have looked out of place on Eton Rec, and the latest and greatest of the series of home calamities which have dogged Albion's debut season in the Conference sees them plunging to 16th in the table, too close to the relegation zone for comfort. The Brewers are next in action this coming Saturday, 15th February, when travel to the rolling hills of the Cotswolds to play Forest Green Rovers, their first visit to the Lawn since Rovers' Dr. Martens championship winning season of 1998. |
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| News - February 2003 | << main >> |
