Burton Albion took advantage of City’s poor form on Saturday afternoon, as the visitors made it three wins in a row.
Periods of the game were controlled by City, but it was an afternoon to forget for Mark Kennedy’s side. The afternoon was made harder when Danny Mandroiu received a red card, with Burton scoring from a corner just a few minutes later. City failed to create many chances and ultimately couldn’t make a comeback with ten men and lost the game.
Overview
In a poor quality game, ten-man City were systematically picked off by the a poor Burton side, who were arguably the better team even before Danny Mandroiu’s sending off.
City players came out with intent to win the game, and no matter what you may think there was no shortage of running, but there was little direction or cohesion behind the flurry of movement. Despite the gulf in resources, City were dismantled too easily from a set-piece situation in the second half.
Burton managed the game in the second-half and despite effort from the City players to get forward and snatch an equaliser, we failed to test Max Crocombe and ultimately came away on the losing side. The defeat leaves City with no goals and points in the last three League One fixtures (including Leyton Orient) and some fans are starting to worry and questioning how we get out of this situation.
Player Ratings
Lukas Jensen – 6
It could be argued that Lukas could’ve done more to prevent the goal but the touch from Jack Burroughs to turn it into the net takes the blame away from the Danish goalkeeper. He made some good claims and although it was an afternoon that we failed to come away with any points, Lukas didn’t have much to do, making it even more disappointing.
Lasse Sorensen – 7
Lasse Sorensen returned to the side on Saturday after missing our trip to Peterborough and our EFL Trophy tie against Wolves with a hamstring injury. Not many expected Lasse to return this weekend, so it was a welcome surprise at 2pm. The Dane was our attacking outlet in the first-half, and you couldn’t fault his effort and running in the second. He was probably our best player on the pitch.
Alex Mitchell – 6
Alex Mitchell didn’t do anything wrong yesterday, and with our poor form at the moment, the on-loan defender has probably been a positive to take out of it. He defended well, and got forward a few times too, before he was replaced by Sean Roughan following the Burton goal.
Adam Jackson – 6
It’s positive to see Adam Jackson coming through games without picking up injuries, as we are much stronger with the 29-year-old in the starting lineup every week. The central defender didn’t put a foot wrong yesterday and looked visibly frustrated with the result at full-time. Similarly to Mitchell, there wasn’t much else Jackson could’ve done to help us win the game.
Paudie O’Connor – 6
The same applies to Paudie O’Connor. The skipper didn’t put a foot wrong all game, and also looked frustrated when the referee blew for full-time. He defended well on the right side of the back three, and linked up with Lasse well in transition.
Jack Burroughs – 5
Jack has performed well since coming in from Coventry on loan in the summer, but he found himself struggling on Saturday afternoon. He has to do better from the corner, and certainly should’ve made better contact on the ball at the near post to avoid the ball going past Lukas. He also had a golden chance that fell to him in the first-half, which he should’ve at least got on target. An afternoon to forget for Jack, and he’ll be hoping to get back to his high levels in the coming weeks.
Ethan Hamilton – 7
You can never fault the effort that Ethan Hamilton puts in, and every week he starts to become a bigger candidate for our best signing from the summer. He tried to affect the game yesterday and aimed to move us up the pitch. His effort was faultless throughout the 90 minutes, and I feel he came out on the wrong side of things yesterday.
Ethan Erhahon – 5
We’ve come to expect extremely high levels from Ethan Erhahon since he signed for City in January, but yesterday he failed to hit the levels we’ve seen him at so many times. He failed to impact the game in both boxes before being replaced late on by Ali Smith and it will go down as one to forget for Ethan.
Reeco Hackett – 5
I feel sorry for Reeco Hackett at the moment. He started the season exceptionally well, and he’s carried on that form as he always looks like our most dangerous attacking player when he’s picked out wide. He’s becoming a real victim of our striker crisis, as he’s not comfortable at all playing up front. In the next few games, it’s crucial that we get him back on the wing, because that’s the only way he’ll be effective for us.
Ted Bishop – 4
Ted Bishop is one of the best players in this division, but he’s being wasted in this system. He needs to be at the centre of things, driving from midfield or playing behind a striker. He can be effective on the wing as we’ve seen multiple times, but he’s much better in the middle and a simple switch to a 3-5-2 on Saturday could’ve made him much more of a threat. The rating is harsh because it’s not entirely his fault, but we have to start looking at how we can get the best out of our best players.
Danny Mandroiu – 2
For the 50 minutes he was on the pitch, Danny failed to impact the game as he would’ve hoped. The red card added to his misery, and after hearing Mark’s comments about the Irishman post-match, he could be in for a tough few months. It’s a shame, but he is a shadow of the player we saw in August at the moment, and hopefully three games out of action is just what he needs to get back to them levels.
Hakeeb Adelakun – 5
It was always going to be difficult to get back into the game with ten men against a team set up the way Burton were, so asking Hakeeb Adelakun to have a big impact from the bench was a tough request. He tried his best to get in behind the Burton defence and had countless runs ignored by his teammates. His long throw added a threat, but it’s too easily defended at the minute, with next to no first balls won by City heads. Danny’s suspension may open up an opportunity for Haks to get back into the side against Fleetwood on Saturday, and he’ll be hoping to help City to their first league win in October.
Sean Roughan – N/A
Ali Smith – N/A
Dylan Duffy – N/A
Apologies for a slightly different style of match report today, I wanted to get it out today so I had to do it in a different format that wouldn’t take as much time. Normal style match reports will return for our visit to Fleetwood Town next weekend – it can only get better from here.