Head coach Martin Paterson praised Burton’s character after a 2-1 victory against Stevenage moved his team three points clear of the League One relegation zone.

Mark Helm and Tom Hamer scored either side of the break while Stevenage were forced to play with 10 men for 30 minutes after Dan Butler lashed out at Helm.

Kane Hemmings scored with two minutes left but ultimately the Brewers managed to put an end to their 10-game winless run and gain a slight advantage over 21st-placed Port Vale with a valiant victory.

Paterson said: “I am so pleased with the group because of the effort. It took humility and hard work and when the chances came from the back of that framework the freedom came.

“We have got character and we have been pushing really hard for a performance like that. We have been through a bit of a dip and we always knew we had the character to get out of that.

“There have been so many opportunities and heartbreaks along this road in terms of games but most importantly now we have put a small marker down is the players recover and live right.

“As a group we have been working on a lot of things to promote things in terms of confidence and awareness of taking a little bit more time.

“But that is what happens when you are in there and you are fighting every week for status. I don’t necessarily care about the name on the back, it is about working as a collective and we have to be unified now.”

As much as it was a galvanising victory for Burton, for Stevenage they have now seen any chance of promotion almost slip from their grasp as they sit six points away from the play-off spots with two games left.

Manager Steve Evans said: “It has been an incredible effort and we have come up a bit short over the season but we will try to go to Oxford and be competitive.

“I think a lot of people would take fifth from bottom, where the likes of Burton are, but it has been an incredible amount of hard work.

“I can only applaud them, I can’t do that today because we lacked a lot. But I am not a manager to throw them in the river because there has been some really bright days.

“We are asking a lot of the players to play at the highest they have played and there hasn’t been a game since I have been here that has not had something resting on it, including today.

“We have gone to the well but found it a bit dry over the past few weeks.”

Tom Hamer scored the vital goal in a 2-1 victory against 10-man Stevenage to move Burton three points clear of relegation.

Mark Helm netted late in the first half and after Dan Butler was sent off, Hamer added a buffer to the score which proved crucial when Kane Hemmings struck two minutes from time.

The victory saw Albion open a three-point gap between them and 21st-placed Port Vale while Stevenage fell six points behind Oxford heading into the final two games.

Boro dominated the first-half possession but Helm scored with the game’s first shot on target when he diverted Sam Hughes’ flick-on past Craig MacGillivray just before half-time.

Helm was to cause more damage to Stevenage after the break when a tussle with Butler ended with the Boro defender lashing out and seeing red and Hamer made sure Burton took advantage of the extra man by lashing in Hughes’ pass.

Stevenage were much improved in the second half but couldn’t find a way past Max Crocombe until the 88th minute when Hemmings converted Jamie Reid’s cross.

Neill Collins is confident play-off chasing Barnsley can overcome their recent struggles after a 2-1 defeat to Stevenage leaves them looking over their shoulder at a crucial time in the season.

Goals from Jamie Reid and Dan Butler either side of the break earned Boro victory and they now sit within three points of sixth-placed Oxford, albeit having played a game more.

Barnsley, who had taken the lead through Adam Phillips’ 30th-minute strike, are precariously in fifth having taken just eight points from their last eight games, hitting a difficult patch of form at a crucial stage.

But Collins assured supporters it is only a matter of small margins to get them back on track.

He said: “People might make more of it than it is. We are disappointed with some of the recent results but I don’t think it will take a lot to turn it around.

“This is the first time we have lost two consecutive games since the third and fourth game of the season. The players have been really resilient and it was going to be tough tonight.

“There is no getting away that the recent run of results we have had, especially with the fixtures we have had, it’s not been good enough.

“I think we have been very consistent prior to that and I think we will get that back. At times we have been victims of our own mistakes but I think we need to not blow everything about proportion.

“We need to concentrate on getting the small margins back in our favour because I think that’s all it is.”

Victory for Stevenage brought an eight-game winless streak to an end. And with Steve Evans’ side playing Oxford next and the U’s also playing seventh-placed Lincoln, he believes Boro are still in with a chance of breaking back into the play-off spots.

He said: “Not often do I say that I’m prepared to lose, but I’m prepared to lose in a major way to try and win.

“The players just knew the mission for tonight was to get the three points and they got them and have gone in quietly. We will regroup and freshen up for Saturday.

“We have to win every game. We have been on the wrong end of some tough stuff and I said to them at half-time we can play eight up front tonight because that will be the way it will be.

“The managers that fail at this level continuously are not prepared to lose, but you have to be prepared to lose to win games.

“Neil Harris and Neil Warnock are specialists at it because in their heart they try to win and that is in me.”

Dan Butler’s second-half goal helped Stevenage reignite their play-off hopes with a 2-1 comeback victory against promotion-hopefuls Barnsley.

Boro were initially left to rue missed chances when Adam Phillips hit a lofted shot to put the Tykes ahead, but Jamie Reid levelled as the break approached and Butler secured victory with a powerful free-kick.

Stevenage find themselves three points off the play-off places, while Barnsley remain firmly in fifth position with three games left to play.

Barnsley’s Liam Roberts had an impact at both ends of the pitch as he stopped shots from Aaron Pressley and Elliott List.

The Tykes’ goalkeeper then punished Boro’s profligacy by finding Phillips behind Stevenage’s static defence and the midfielder fired past Craig MacGillivray to open the scoring on the half-hour mark.

Boro levelled in first-half stoppage time when Reid skipped past Phillips and drilled a shot home to score their first goal in 317 minutes.

And their second quickly followed after the break when Butler’s free-kick crept through Barnsley’s wall. Reid cannoned a shot against a post late on as Stevenage edged to an important victory.

Bristol Rovers came back from two goals down to defeat play-off-chasing Stevenage 3-2 on their own patch, with a stunner from captain Antony Evans sealing the turnaround.

It allowed the mid-table Pirates to get back to winning ways after back-to-back losses, but the Boro have been replaced in the top six in League One by Oxford.

Stevenage were ahead after just six minutes when Dan Butler’s long throw caused havoc in the six-yard box, which led to Kane Hemmings prodding in.

The hosts appeared to be cruising in the 24th minute when Jake Forster-Caskey doubled their lead, but Bristol Rovers quickly pulled one back when Luke Thomas bent a superb effort into the bottom corner.

The Pirates then equalised just after the hour mark as Evans got in behind down the left and Chris Martin was there to turn in his low cross.

And a brilliant comeback was completed after 67 minutes when Evans smashed in a fantastic strike from 25 yards, although the visitors finished with 10 men after Kamil Conteh’s second booking in stoppage time.