Relegation rivals Cheltenham and Burton played out an uninspiring 0-0 draw at the Completely-Suzuki Stadium.

Neither goalkeeper was seriously tested throughout and the result keeps Burton five points clear of their opponents and the League One drop zone, while the Robins are four points from safety.

Cheltenham enjoyed most of the possession during the first half, but they could not muster a shot on target.

Burton’s Ademola Ola-Adebomi saw an effort comfortably saved by Luke Southwood in the 13th minute, but defences were very much on top, with several important blocks in both boxes.

Cheltenham felt they should have been awarded a penalty in the 28th minute when George Lloyd went down under a challenge from Steve Seddon, but referee Thomas Parsons waved away their appeals.

Tom Hamer made an excellent challenge on the line to deny home striker Matty Taylor in the 32nd minute before Seddon fired high over the bar before the break.

Ola-Adebomi also saw an effort fly over in the 58th minute before Cheltenham threatened late on when Josh Harrop’s cross was met by Taylor, but it was blocked in the box.

Tom Bradbury cleared off the line from Albion substitute Joe Hugill in stoppage time as both teams had to settle for a point.

Northampton made it seven points from nine with a comfortable 2-0 win at Burton.

Marc Leonard and Mitch Pinnock fired Jon Brady’s side to victory with long-range efforts that ultimately settled a scrappy encounter.

Northampton capitalised on two moments of good fortune in the first half to grab the game by the scruff of the neck and rarely looked in danger from there.

The Brewers had been the dominant side in the opening stages but found themselves behind when Leonard fired in a speculative 25-yard effort that took a wicked deflection off defender Toto Nsiala to wrong-foot Max Crocombe in the Burton goal.

Northampton doubled their advantage when Mark Helm’s loose pass was intercepted by Pinnock who then lashed in Town’s second from distance.

Substitute Shaun McWilliams fired another long-range effort against a post with his first contribution as Town threatened a third.

Kyle Hudlin and Mustapha Carayol went close for Burton late on but Northampton saw the game out comfortably.

Burton’s League One game with fellow strugglers Cheltenham has been postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

The Pirelli Stadium surface failed an inspection after heavy rain on Tuesday afternoon.

A Burton statement read: “Tonight’s game against Cheltenham FC has been called off due to a waterlogged pitch.

“The match referee inspected the pitch, which has been hit by a large deluge of rain this afternoon, and informed both clubs that the game could not go ahead.”

Burton are 18th in the table, four points above the relegation zone, with Cheltenham third bottom and seven points from safety.

Ten-man Lincoln ground out a 1-0 victory over Burton thanks to Reeco Hackett’s second-half goal.

It ended a nine-game winless run in Sky Bet League One for Michael Skubala’s team, stretching back to November.

A scrappy first half was littered with yellow cards as Albion racked up three inside the first 21 minutes, but it was Lincoln who felt the ire of referee Jeremy Simpson as defender Alex Mitchell was booked twice in six minutes.

Albion struggled to break down a well-drilled Lincoln defence with Tolaji Bola’s deflected shot on the turn their best opening.

Lincoln skipper Adam Jackson should have had the visitors in front on the stroke of half-time but he headed tamely at Burton keeper Max Crocombe.

Ethan Hamilton fired wastefully over in the early moments of the second half, but Hackett showed a more assured touch as he fired home from inside the box nine minutes after the break.

Hackett could have made it more comfortable for the Imps but he hit a rasping shot straight at Crocombe.

New Burton boss Martin Paterson was relieved after goals from Mark Helm and skipper John Brayford secured his first win with a 2-0 victory over Charlton.

Paterson was denied a point at Derby in his first game in charge but Albion never looked like relinquishing control once they got two goals in front, with a resilient defensive performance the bedrock of the victory.

“It is a really good result and I think my first and most important point will be how hard it is to win football games,” the former Northern Ireland striker said.

“It was a tough game, but we have had a good few days building in from the defeat at Derby but I kept reminding the group about the balance between results and performances and what is key to it is emotional control.

“It is a fantastic result for us today and I thought we played some good football in spells and that can continue to improve. The willingness of the group to take on the details of what I have added in has been excellent.”

Burton had not scored twice in a game prior to Paterson’s appointment since October and have now done so in successive games, with the new boss keen to give his players freedom to play.

“We want players to express themselves when they get into the final third of the pitch and that is a key thing for this team, to give them a little more confidence and a little more freedom,” he added.

“Lots of things that we wanted from the performance we can tick off today but the important thing is not to get too high with a win and we come back in this week and try to improve again.”

Charlton boss Michael Appleton came under fire from Addicks supporters during the game as his side extended a winless run to nine league games, with it now almost two months since their last victory.

“Missed opportunities in the first half cost us,” Appleton said. “We had countless opportunities, and some poor defending didn’t help”.

Albion’s opener came from keeper Max Crocombe’s long clearance being flicked on and finished by Helm, whilst poor defending allowed Brayford to poach a second just two minutes after the break.

“It wasn’t even a chance they have scored from, it’s a half chance,” Appleton added.

“We can show them the poor defending and tell them but they have to take responsibility and do it.”

The second goal, so early after half-time, killed off Charlton’s hopes of a comeback, with Appleton disappointed by his side’s response.

“The timing didn’t help but we still had 40 or 50 minutes to do something,” he said.

“Really once we went two down, we stopped passing forwards and didn’t take responsibility to get the ball forwards.

“We are where we are due to lapses of concentration, which have certainly hurt us. We have an understanding of where we think this season can go and it is up to us as staff and players to deliver that.”

Burton interim manager Gary Mills was “proud” of his side after claiming back-to-back wins at the Pirelli Stadium with a hard-fought 1-0 success over Shrewsbury.

The home side took the lead with their first chance of the game, Joe Powell’s corner whipped perfectly onto the head of striker Beryly Lubala, who guided his effort into the back of the net on 16 minutes.

Mills said: “I’m absolutely delighted with the attitude and application of the boys over the Christmas period.

“The willingness to defend the goal as a unit is something we’ve been working on and we’re really proud.

“The game played out exactly as we planned for, we know they’re effective in what they do which makes us so proud is what we achieved as a group.”

Despite the narrow manner of the victory, Mills was particularly impressed with the quality his side showed in the defensive third of the pitch.

He added: “The lads put their bodies on the line and showed that want to keep the ball out of the net as well as the solidarity, spirit and togetherness.

“I’d hoped the forward players would help their defenders out and put the ball in the net a few more times but they’re warriors.

“The group are really together and they want to perform for each other and the football club which is fantastic.”

Shrewsbury boss Matt Taylor was disappointed with the nature of the defeat but wanted to highlight his players’ work-rate and commitment.

Taylor said: “I felt we did enough to win the game let alone lose it.

“I know it can’t be that a team only has to score one goal to beat us but we’re in a tough moment in terms of results but, more importantly, we’re in a really difficult spot in terms of available players.

“I can’t question the players’ effort but I can question the quality when we’re in those big moments when we get chances because the players have done it this season and we know they can do it.”

The Salop faithful were audibly upset with what they were seeing from their team and Taylor was keen to sympathise with the supporters.

He added: “I can hear their frustrations and I’ve got no issues with that but you have to understand where we are.

“This football club did really well last season with a different group of players and where we are now with the players we have available, we’re at full stretch.

“I knew the job would be tough but what I didn’t expect was all of these unforeseen issues where we would pick up injuries that you’d argue are some of our best players and make it really difficult for us.”

Caretaker boss Gary Mills was proud of his Burton players after they beat Blackpool 1-0 to register a first win in nine League One matches.

Bobby Kamwa netted the game’s only goal after 10 minutes, with play-off hopefuls Blackpool unable to respond.

“It was a really good performance and really proud of the group,” Mills said.

“The energy and pride they showed in their performance was excellent and that is credit to everyone at the football club. They deserve that.”

Albion got off to a fast start and were rewarded when Kamwa’s teasing cross beat everybody and nestled in the far corner.

“It was a message (getting at Blackpool early) that we hammered home before the game,” Mills said. “We wanted to start fast and right, full of energy and we wanted to engage the crowd, who I thought were fantastic today for us.”

Former Leeds youngster Kamwa has not featured much for Albion this season but earned praise from his boss after scoring his first goal since the final game of 2022.

“We spoke at length about getting more crosses into the box,” Mills said. “The type of delivery was always asking questions.

“I thought Bobby was fantastic. He has come into the side today having been out for a little while, but he showed real energy and was a threat all game. I thought we looked a decent side on the counter-attack today.”

A rare clean sheet was down to superb defending, led by skipper John Brayford, and Mills knew that his side had put bodies on the line to secure victory.

“Defensively we were outstanding,” he said. “They gave us a real platform to play off and defended for their lives and they really stuck together.”

Blackpool head coach Neil Critchley was left bemoaning another poor away day as his team lost for the second time in a row on the road, having gone down 2-1 at Cambridge on December 16, denting their play-off aspirations.

“I am sick of having this feeling away from home, to be honest,” he said. “We give a team a goal head start, which means you are chasing the game.

“We played some good football in the first half with one or two decent opportunities.

“Second half, obviously, they are holding onto their lead and we have pushed them right back and it is not easy then to break down 11 men behind the ball, but when we got into good situations or promising areas of the pitch, we failed. Again. It is deja vu from Cambridge.”

Critchley was also critical of the defending for Burton’s goal.

“It’s a diagonal down the pitch and we are nowhere near aggressive enough on the touchline,” he said. “We don’t stop the ball coming in the box and it finds its way into the bottom corner.”

Burton claimed a first win in nine Sky Bet League One games as Bobby Kamwa’s early goal sealed a 1-0 victory over play-off hopefuls Blackpool.

Kamwa’s strike came almost a year after his last goal, in the final game of 2022, and gave Albion something to build on.

Goalkeeper Max Crocombe picked him out on the left wing and some superb chest control allowed him to cut inside and swing in a cross that evaded Burton forward Bez Lubala before nestling in the far corner of the net.

Jordan Rhodes squandered a good chance for the visitors, firing over from 12 yards and ex-Blackpool man Lubala saw a long-range effort deflected wide.

Sam Hughes almost doubled Albion’s advantage two minutes into the second half, his header from Joe Powell’s corner deflecting just wide.

Ollie Norburn and James Husband flashed efforts wide as Blackpool chased a second-half equaliser.

Burton also needed crucial late blocks from skipper John Brayford and Steve Seddon to see off the threat of the Seasiders before a vital three points were finally secured.

Charlton head coach Michael Appleton wants to add more savviness to his squad in the January transfer window after they let more points slip through their fingers in Saturday’s 1-1 draw against managerless Burton.

The Addicks have drawn the joint most matches in League One, with five of their eight draws coming during their current seven-game unbeaten run.

Lloyd Jones headed Charlton in front from Michael Hector’s cross – the centre-back’s first goal since he joined on a free transfer after leaving Cambridge – in the 19th minute.

But the Addicks failed to kill the contest off and were made to pay in the first minute of second-half stoppage time with Ryan Sweeney slotting past Ashley Maynard-Brewer after a Joe Powell free-kick dropped kindly for him in the penalty area.

Appleton said: “It was difficult to take because I didn’t see them scoring – at all.

“It’s just experience (in terms of players he wants in the window). They bring an understanding of situations in games. We’ve got a corner with 88, 89 or 90 minutes on the clock and we’re still putting the ball into the box as if it is almost an embarrassment to play it short – take 60 seconds off the clock.

“The teams that win on a regular basis and are successful do those type of things on a regular basis and the make sure they win those games 1-0. We’re just not there at that point.

“It comes down unfortunately to a lack of experience. Whether you have got a number 10, a number six or a number eight, the reality is whether they are very much attack-minded they have got an awareness and can manage those moments better than maybe one of the young players would do.

“We don’t look like conceding goals, we just are conceding goals at poor moments at the minute. Ash (Maynard-Brewer) isn’t having to make save after save after save. We’re not having things cleared off the line.”

Burton had been on a run of five straight league defeats before Sweeney’s late leveller.

It was a first point on the board for caretaker boss Gary Mills, and he said: “We started brightly and we had a chance after about 15 or 20 minutes from a corner, I don’t know how it didn’t go in.

“Three or four minutes later they score a goal from a second phase, we’re disappointed with that. Between then and half-time it rocked us a little bit. We had a little chat at half-time and tactically changed a few things and we were good value.

“Joe’s quality (from deadballs) is very good. His left foot is as good as you get in League One. It’s all about timing and arriving in the box – we do work on it. With Powelly’s delivery you’d be mad not to.

“It’s a huge confidence boost for us. The performance was good and I don’t think the result was against the run of play. Second half we had a real good go and we attacked in numbers.

“You’d never believe he (Sweeney) was a big, ugly centre-half who heads it and kicks it. He showed good composure.”

Oxford boss Des Buckingham felt getting a first league win under his belt was probably more of a relief for his family than for him after the 3-0 victory over Burton.

Two goals from Ruben Rodrigues and one from Marcus McGuane earned the U’s a comfortable victory and the scoreline could have been double that.

Former Oxford goalkeeper Max Crocombe pulled off a string of saves to keep the score down, and Burton also cleared four attempts off the line in one crazy 10-second spell.

Oxford-born Buckingham said: “I think it’s a relief for my dad and my family.

“The first people that speak to me are my family and my friends… I don’t need reminding from anyone else.

“This week we set up to do something and I started to change things and put more of a stamp on what we are doing.

“The players have been excellent in training this week and I’m extremely pleased with what I have seen today.

“We prepared ourselves as well as we could and I don’t think Burton had a shot on goal.

“With the exception of Max Crocombe in their goal, who I thought had a wonderful game, we could have had a couple more as well.

“I worked with Max when he was the youth-team keeper here – it’s the third time I’ve bumped into him, we also crossed paths in Australia and New Zealand.

“He’s obviously disappointed with the result but I’ve just said to him ‘you can’t be disappointed with that performance you’ve put in’.

“I think they cleared four off the line in the space of 10 seconds. And we hit the post just before that.

“The most important thing is that you keep the control and keep doing what’s got you the opportunities – and that’s what we kept doing.

“It took a very good strike from Ruben for the second, and then it was a wonderful strike from Marcus for the third.

“The work rate that our wingers put in is phenomenal, not just in going forward but in getting back.”

Harris was twice thwarted by Crocombe, but also missed other opportunities.

“The goals will come for Mark Harris,” added Buckingham. “The way we’ve set the team up he’ll get chances.

“He had two wonderful chances today and their keeper’s made great saves. As long as he continues doing what he’s doing, the goals will come – and when they do they’ll be like London buses.”

Burton’s caretaker boss Gary Mills said: “We asked the lads to give everything and I’m really proud of them. They worked really hard and showed real character.

“We wanted them to go out there, enjoy it and show bravery. In patches they showed some decent stuff and the blocks they put in showed real commitment.

“After the match, I thanked the lads for their efforts. I was concerned that Oxford had so many opportunities – they got into our final third too much.

“We didn’t close the ball down enough from a deep line. But they were quality finishes and Oxford are a good side – there’s no doubt about that.

“They’re a big club with big resources and a really good squad. They’ll be challenging.

“We didn’t work the Oxford goalkeeper enough. But this is the start of a journey and while we’re in charge we’ll try and get more players in attacking areas on the pitch with more crosses and more shots.”

Mills has taken temporary charge from Dino Maamria, who departed in the week.

Mills added: “I don’t know how long we’ll be in charge but we’ll try and deliver something that is attacking and enjoyable to watch – something to get the crowd off their seats. But it’s not going to happen for us overnight.”

Dino Maamria was sacked as Burton manager following his side’s 2-1 defeat to promotion-chasing Stevenage.

Deji Oshilaja gave Albion a seventh-minute lead, converting the rebound after Joe Powell’s penalty was saved by Taye Ashby-Hammond.

But Kane Hemmings struck against his former side on the stroke of half-time and Jamie Reid kept his cool from the penalty spot to condemn Burton to a fifth defeat in six winless games in League One.

That run has seen Burton slip down the table, with Maamria leaving them in 19th place, four points above the relegation zone.

A statement from chairman Ben Robinson read: “Dino Maamria has been relieved of his first-team duties with immediate effect.”

Maamria performed his post-match media duties but was in sombre and reflective mood of not only the game but his time at the club before learning of his departure.

“I thought we started well in very tough conditions,” Maamria said.

“We dealt with a number of long balls and then went ahead, deservedly, I thought and then last minute of the half we switch off at the back post and then they score to go in at half time one-one.

“Second goal it comes from a poor throw out and their players pick it up. KB (Kwadwo Baah) is trying to get back in position but they get a penalty.

“It is tough to take. Ultimately I have been at this club two weeks short of three years and I have loved my time here. I think the fans have been magnificent with me throughout that time, a lot of players and a lot of staff.

“It is a winning business and I haven’t won enough games. We had a good October but overall I understand the fans frustrations. Football is a winning business and we didn’t win today.”

Stevenage boss Steve Evans hailed his side as they maintained their League One promotion push.

Evans, whose team are third, said: “It was an outstanding performance. Maybe we were still trying to deal with the conditions in the first 10 minutes and we were a bit sloppy leading to them getting the penalty.

“We had a perfectly good goal disallowed with one that was over the line, having seen the footage and the stills, but in fairness to the referee there were a lot of bodies in the way but then you look to the assistant, so we felt a bit hard done to.

“I thought we became really strong in the last 20 minutes before half-time, got the goal, and perhaps we should be turning round in front, despite the penalty and then, I think, second half, we controlled it. It was inventive and it was bright.

“For 70 minutes, how could you not be commending that sort of performance and we come away with a very hard fought and deserved three points.”

Portsmouth head coach John Mousinho was thrilled with his side’s performance after they returned to winning ways with a 2-0 victory at 10-man Burton.

Mousinho was looking for a response after Saturday’s 4-0 home defeat to Blackpool and he got it thanks to Colby Bishop’s first-half penalty and Alex Robertson’s second-half finish – his first senior goal.

“With the context of everything that has happened over the past few days, with the blow to morale that we took on Saturday, the question was asked after the game ‘is this just a blip?’” the former Brewers midfielder said.

“I asked them for a solid grown-up performance where they had to show a lot of mettle and they did that in pretty much everything they did barring a 10-minute spell.”

Bishop failed to appear for the second half after picking up an ankle injury late in the first half.

“That is probably the only negative to come out of the game. I saw it right in front of me, he just went over on his ankle.

“It has swollen up. He tried to play on but couldn’t put any weight on it. He turns over his ankle, there is nothing we can about it, the pitch is fine, it wasn’t a bad challenge, just bad luck.”

Mousinho was delighted with Manchester City loanee Robertson getting off the mark as well.

He said: “I thought he was our best player on Saturday, shining light in a poor performance, and our best player again tonight.

“The only criticism I’ve had of him is the final (end) product and he has put it together tonight.”

Burton boss Dino Maamria was pleased with his side’s effort but felt they contributed to their own downfall at two crucial moments.

“We shot ourselves in the foot twice,” he observed.

“It is very harsh. I thought for 37 minutes we were well on top of the game and asking them questions. Their keeper made an unbelievable save from KB [Kwadwo Baah].

“We make a bad, bad decision where we give them the easiest penalty ever and when you give a team like Portsmouth a leg up, when you don’t need to, it is always going to make it difficult.”

Despite a strong start to the second half, Maamria saw his side threaten without finding the crucial equaliser before Pompey picked the Brewers off when Mark Helm and Kwadwo Baah collided with each other.

“The second goal came after we started the second half on the front foot and we were parked in their last third. We couldn’t get that goal and they scored from a transition,” he said.

Steve Seddon’s late sending off for a second bookable offence added to Maamria’s frustrations despite a positive response to Saturday’s defeat at Peterborough.

He added: “At two-nil and with a sending off it is game over when you give those teams as easy goals as we have but I have no complaints about the performance because I thought that was excellent.”

Andy Crosby was delighted with his Port Vale side as they secured a second-round tie at Stevenage with a 2-0 victory over Burton in their FA Cup first-round replay.

Gavin Massey set Vale on their way, with a poacher’s finish continuing some good form from the winger.

Substitute Lewis Cass grabbed the second goal with eight minutes remaining, providing an impact from the bench that Crosby was looking for.

“I thought we were excellent tonight from start to finish,” Crosby said. “Both with and without the ball we controlled the game how we want to play and we also handled the physical power of Burton and the way they try and play.

“You have to compete and win second balls, get blocks in and I don’t think they had a shot on target tonight.

“I thought Gavin was excellent. He was really good at Wrexham last week with a really impactful 45 minutes and you look at the make-up of the squad tonight and we are only as good as our senior players and they were all excellent tonight.

“It was a great finish from Lewis. I knew the group would need the likes of Lewis and I told him we were going to need his quality from the bench.

“I was really pleased with the clean sheet too tonight and we achieved our aim of getting through to the second round.”

Burton boss Dino Maamria bemoaned his side’s luck in a tight game of fine margins, reflecting on his team’s disallowed goal at Vale Park that resulted in the replay.

He said: “It’s a marginal game. The first is marginal to being offside, I think.

“Cole Stockton missed being onside by an inch. We scored a legit goal in the first game but it was disallowed for offside.”

Maamria hailed Vale striker Uche Ikpeazu for the way he led the line and caused the Burton defence problems.

“I thought we started the game really well then they got on top a little bit,” Maamria added. “I thought the player that made the difference in the game was Ikpeazu.

“I thought we pressed really well from the front but once they got it up to him he was able to do what he wanted to do. He was unplayable tonight and the difference between the two teams.

“You need to score when you are on top and that first goal came at the wrong time for us. Overall, Port Vale deserved their win tonight. For us it was tough to take but I think the international break is coming at the right time for us to get our best player, Sam Hughes, back.”

Goals in each half from Gavin Massey and substitute Lewis Cass saw Port Vale through to the second round of the FA Cup with a 2-0 replay win over Staffordshire rivals Burton.

Massey finally broke the deadlock in the 31st minute after Burton keeper Max Crocombe had made a double save from Uche Ikpeazu and Tom Sang. The winger reacted quickest to the loose ball to leave the Albion stopper with no chance and put Vale in charge of the game.

The visitors had to weather plenty of early pressure from the Brewers but crucially did not concede, allowing them to grow into the game and begin to dominate.

The goal was a reward for Vale’s attacking after Ikpeazu had missed a sitter on the rebound after Rhys Walters has forced another good save, and Ethan Chislett squandered a good chance on the stroke of half-time, firing wastefully wide.

Cole Stockton was denied an equaliser by the flag of the assistant early in the second half as Albion sought parity but Vale finally made sure of victory when Cass converted Sang’s low cross with eight minutes remaining to set up a meeting with fellow League One side Stevenage.

Burton boss Dino Maamria was heavily critical of his side’s “really poor” performance as they were beaten 2-0 by out-of-form Northampton at Sixfields.

A tight first half ended in stalemate but the Cobblers dominated the second and goals from Marc Leonard and Sam Hoskins ended their six-game winless run in all competitions.

Burton themselves are now five games without a win in all competitions and their manager had no complaints.

“It was a poor performance,” admitted Maamria. “We were outfought and outplayed and the second half especially was really poor.

“There wasn’t much in the first half so the message at half-time was to push more bodies forward and play more forward but we didn’t do that.

“They scored a brilliant goal and that probably galvanised them but I’m really disappointed with our response because we didn’t get going after that and they dominated us.

“The most disappointing thing is that we were outfought in every department. They won first and second balls, they closed us down, they got behind the ball quicker and they asked more questions.

“There are ways to lose games and you don’t lose like we did today. Northampton are in a difficult moment and the goal helped them and they finished the game better, but we were outfought and that’s not like us.

“We missed easy chances. We should have got one goal back near the end and if you do that, it’s a different game, but we deserved absolutely nothing today and I’m gutted for our fans because they turned up in their numbers.”

It was a much-needed win for Northampton boss Jon Brady.

“I’m really pleased with the performance,” he said. “We needed that and every player came to the table.

“That’s the type of energy, work-rate and tempo we need because that’s our tempo.

“It’s been tough because we’ve been playing the same players week in, week out but today we were able to freshen it up with players coming back in. That makes one hell of a difference and we looked more physical and had more about us.

“The game opened up in the second half. Tactically, they went to 4-4-2 so the midfield opened up more and if we won their balls in good areas, we were able to get in behind us and play forward and more space opened up.

“That helped us and then we broke on them brilliantly after we got the first goal.

“On top of that, our energy to get back into shape was excellent so a lot of key things worked for us today and the boys implemented what we had worked on so full credit to them.”