Burton Albion

Burton Albion boss Gary Bowyer has said the Brewers have made a "phenomenal" start to the League One campaign considering the circumstances they have been operating under.

The Brewers are 14th in the table after taking 14 points from their opening 12 matches.

They currently have up to eight players out injured, with just six fully fit first-teamers able to train on Thursday, and two or three more hoping to complete a full session on Friday.

Bowyer, 55, delivered a plea for help during the summer transfer window with the club limited in their transfer activity until eventually 11 new faces came through the door, either on loan or permanent deals.

They also sold seven players, including last season's top scorer Tyrese Shade to Portsmouth on transfer deadline day

Bowyer told BBC Radio Derby: "How we play and how we've adapted with the players we've been given is phenomenal to say that with 12 games in, all our opponents have been hugely complimentary to us about how we've played.

"I still think there are areas of the game where we can improve for sure, and it's a 'no-brainer' for me that we don't have that experience at the top end of the pitch.

"That would have made a massive difference for us. We've just got to work with the strikers that we've got."

Following Tuesday's impressive home draw with League One leaders at the time Bradford City, Burton welcome Richie Wellens' Leyton Orient to Pirelli Stadium on Saturday (15:00 BST).

This will be Burton's third league fixtures in eight days, and Bowyer laughs when asked about possibly rotating the squad.

"I don't feel we can even afford that luxury when everybody is fully fit to be honest. There will be no rotating," he added.

"Ironically, in a couple of weeks' time its the FA Cup and I just said to the staff we won't be rotating for that competition either. We'll go as strong as we possibly can, and that's we where we are."

Tim Durrans
BBC Sport England

Burton Albion defender Toby Sibbick says Tuesday's home draw with high-flying Bradford City was a good marker of the team's improvement.

Their visitors arrived as early League One leaders, while the Brewers are enjoying their best start to a campaign for five seasons.

The 0-0 draw gives Gary Bowyer's side 14 points from 12 games leaving them 14th, just four points outside the top six. They amassed 16 points at this stage under Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink in 2021-22.

"It was a good point at the end of the day," Sibbick told BBC Radio Derby.

"They ask questions of the defence and stick it on you. They're really good at set-pieces, and I thought we did really well, so overall it's a great point.

"Everyone is buying into it this season, and it's going well. We probably could have picked up a few more points along the way, but that's football."

Bowyer arrived in December 2024 with Burton nine points adrift of safety after just two wins from their opening 20 league games.

He kept them in the division, pulling off what was described as "a miracle", then guiding Burton to survival by a single point in 2025-26, and overseeing further improvement with a 17th-placed finish last season.

Sibbick says the team are starting to feel comfortable in what they are being asked to do as they bid to continue that upward trajectory.

"The staff have been really good with us this season," he added. "They've given us the freedom to play and get into good positions to show our talents.

"It starts from us at the back having the bravery to get on the ball, and give it to the forward players and hopefully they can work their magic."

Next up for the Brewers is a home game with fellow mid-table side Leyton Orient and Sibbick accepts one league win so far at the Pirelli Stadium is not good enough.

"I think that's something we need to start doing, winning more at home," he admitted. "We need to make this place tough to come.

"It's been a decent start for us, but we want to improve on it, and start climbing up the table, not looking behind us."

Image source, Getty Images

Burton Albion midfielder Harvey Araujo says they must move on positively from the disappointment of their "chaotic" draw with Peterborough United.

The Brewers take on Bradford City at home on Tuesday after seeing their last-minute lead against the Posh slip when Robbie Savage's side grabbed a point with a 96th-minute equaliser in their 2-2 draw.

After falling behind to Owura Edwards' second-minute opener, Charlie Webster levelled for Burton who then looking like they had won it in the 89th minute when Gbemi Arubi spotted Posh goalkeeper Alex Bass off his line and lobbed him from inside the centre circle.

But Matt Garbett equalised deep in stoppage time to trigger wild home celebrations and deny Burton a fourth win of the season.

"It was pretty chaotic," Araujo told BBC Radio Derby.

"Very end-to-end stuff and a game I felt we should have gone home with three points.

"[It's] very disappointing but we just have to move on quickly."

Araujo, who played his first full game since suffering a knee injury in March before his summer move from Colchester, said the frantic nature of the match does give them something to work on.

"We could learn from this game and from a defensive point of view just have that composure and that control over certain games like this - whenever it's hectic, just to have a control on our side of things."

Dan Wheeler
BBC Sport

Image source, Shutterstock

Frustrated Burton boss Gary Bowyer said he had to "make sure it wasn't Christmas Day" during Saturday's League One defeat by Huddersfield with the way his side "gifted" goals away - and said this week will help him see "what they're made of".

The Brewers have made a solid start to the season and were unbeaten at home before their 3-1 loss to the Terriers in which all the visitors' goals came from defensive errors.

"I just had to go and check my calendar because we were very, very generous in what we gave Huddersfield," Bowyer told BBC Radio Derby.

"We can't change in terms of the personnel and the way we're going to have to play, but you can't make those mistakes - just fundamental basics of looking after the football."

Bowyer said the fact he had to call on teenagers Sulyman Krubally and Zac Scutt, the latter making his debut, as part of his efforts to change things from the bench highlighted why errors cost Burton so dear.

"I think you saw the difference in the vision of the two clubs - they're gunning for automatic promotion and they've got the squad," said Bowyer.

"I'm bringing on Sully, who's 18, and Scutty, who's 18 - so that's the gulf.

"But it doesn't stop you winning your duels. It doesn't stop you running hard and I felt they ran harder than we did.

"They're the best team in the league but we gifted them the goals. I thought the presents we gave them reminded me of Harrods - when you get the lovely gift wrap and the box has got the glitter in the wrap."

The Brewers will now hope to regroup with Tuesday's trip to Grimsby in the Jersey Mike's Trophy before next Saturday's League One game at Doncaster Rovers.

"I'm looking forward now because we see what they're made of," Bowyer said.

"We've lost a couple of games but it's the manner [of Huddersfield] that sits differently to the others. So I'm really looking forward to see how they respond."

Midfielder Charlie Webster says Burton Albion have proven they can go toe-to-toe with any side in League One after making a solid start to the season.

The Brewers moved up to seventh in the table after beating high-flying Plymouth Argyle on Saturday.

"We've gelled as a team and we've had a good start to the season," he told BBC Radio Derby.

"We are pushing in the right direction and that is the big thing.

"We have shown that we can start games bright and sharp, which is important. And it shows that we can go toe-to-toe with most, it not all the teams in this league."

The first two seasons the 22-year-old had with the east Staffordshire side after he joined them from Chelsea were spent battling to avoid relegation.

Webster, who had spent a season on loan in the Netherlands with Heerenveen before making his move to Burton on a three-year deal, said his time at the Pirelli Stadium had been "full of learning and development".

Part of that included having to deal with a length injury lay-off last season, although he revealed his was better equipped than most to deal with the mental side of the setback with his mother being a psychologist.

You can listen to the full interview Webster did with BBC Radio Derby by hitting the play button above.

BBC Radio Derby presenter Dominic Dietrich is joined by former Derby County players Malcolm Christie and Martyn Waghorn to discuss the Rams' and Burton Albion's transfer business.

The show, which runs from 22:00-00:00 BST, will offer the latest updates and analysis.

Listen to it here

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