Marcus Braddock looks ahead to this evenings Carabao Cup visit of Burt
Tonight, Burton Albion visit Montgomery Waters Meadow for the first round of the Carabao Cup. Like us, they've not managed a point in their first two games so this game could prove an opportunity for either team to kick start their season. Burton were relegated from the Championship last season after 2 years in the second tier, an impressive feat given their size in comparison with the average club in that division.
There have been a few changes in the Burton squad since last season. In recent weeks, midfielder Tom Naylor moved to Portsmouth, defender Tom Flanagan went to Sunderland and midfielder Hope Akpan joined Bradford City. In their stead, Nigel Clough brought in young midfielder Elliott Hodge, Dundee United’s goal scoring midfielder Scott Fraser and David Templeton, a prolific winger from Hamilton.
Statistics
So far this season there haven't been enough games to pick out any patterns emerging although both of Burton's goals were scored in the middle fifteen minutes of two different halves of their two games. Stats from their two games so far show a 50% share of possession and as you might expect, they had considerably more shots on and off target at home.
Referee - Graham Salisbury from Lancashire.
Assistant Referee: Barry Cropp, Paul Graham
Fourth Official: Christopher Ward
Squad News
Town have a full squad to pick from.
Summary
On current form, either team could win this one but hopefully home advantage will give us the edge. In his pre-match comments, John Filan indicated that there might be a change or two to keep everyone fresh within the squad. According to the Derbyshire press, Burton boss Nigel Clough will be looking to go through to the second round and is hoping for a home draw in the next round! He may well have room for optimism given his teams record in the last couple of seasons in the Carabao Cup. The Brewers beat Oldham and Cardiff away last season, lining up a lucrative away game at Old Trafford although the Red Devils easily won 4-1. In the previous season, a 3-2 win at home to Bury set up a home tie against Liverpool which the Brewers lost 5-0. I expect this to be a difficult one, hopefully it will be an open game but I have a feeling that the team that can grind out the result will prevail.
COYB!!!