Burton boss Dino Maamria reflected on a “huge win” for his side as they came from behind to record a stunning 4-1 win over 10-man Bristol Rovers and make it four wins on the bounce.
Bez Lubala grabbed two goals to turn the game in Albion’s favour by half-time after Antony Evans had nodded Rovers in front.
“That is a huge win for us,” Maamria said. “The more wins you have then the tougher they get. Although the scoreline is 4-1 it was a tough win when we weren’t at our best and that is the growth that the team has made in the last few weeks.
“When you produce results like that and you are at 70 per cent of your best then that is something the team can go forward with.”
With the game on a knife edge in the second half, Ryan Woods’ red card for Rovers handed Albion the initiative again with Joe Powell and Kwadwo Baah scoring spectacular late goals to seal an emphatic victory, but Maamria reserved praise for Lubala.
“Bez does so much work for the team, in terms of the press and dropping in to keep the shape of the team,” Maamria said. “I am so pleased for him today because he is a good finisher and he was clinical today. He had a chance for a hat-trick but was unselfish to set it up for someone else.”
Rovers boss Joey Barton felt his side did not get the rub of the green after going in front with the red card a turning point.
“It was a huge moment,” Barton said.
“We were trying to get back in the game at the start of the second half and I thought the lads came out really sharply. We had a couple of good crosses that somehow we didn’t manage to get on the end of.
“Sometimes it is one of those days. Their first two goals are both crosses that deflected between our players’ legs so you know you are maybe not getting the rub of the green and then the sending-off, for me, was needless.
“It didn’t need to happen and then the momentum that we have built up in the second half went out of our sails a bit and it gave Burton the impetus. Credit to them they have gone on to see the game out with two fantastic strikes.”
Everything looked good for Rovers early on after Evans gave his side the lead, but Barton’s men were unable to build on it.
“It’s disappointing,” he said. “You come away from home and make a fantastic start, get your noses in front and you expect to kick on from there. If I am honest, we didn’t.
“We fell into thinking that we can sit back on the 1-0 but credit to Burton, they got themselves back into it. We find ourselves 2-1 down and then the red card leaves us with a real mountain to climb.”