What Barnsley can expect from Burton Albion on Saturday

We asked David Wilson-Turner, a Burton Albion season ticket holder 5 quickfire questions about Burton and their season so far.

The Brewers visit Oakwell on Saturday in the Sky Bet League One fixture. The reds currently sit 4th in the table with games in hand on those sides in the play off spaces after 4 straight league wins which resulted in manager Michael Duff winning the manager of the month award. Burton sit 3rd bottom 5 points from safety.

Saturday sees a return to Oakwell for Victor Adeboyejo who has 10 league goals in 21 appearances already this season.

What can Barnsley fans expect from Burton on Saturday? Formations, style of play, etc?

I think what you can expect to see from Burton is a stronger defensive side than what our statistics come across as. There is no hiding from the fact that we have the worst defensive record in the country, however, since Dino became manager, we have conceded less goals on average than when Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink was in charge earlier on in the season. I would expect us to set up to try and pick up a point, we don’t have the best record at Oakwell only winning 1 of 5 matches. We have tended to use a 4-2-3-1 / 4-5-1 formation in most matches since Dino took charge, and I would expect that we carry on with that on Saturday.

What difference has Dino Maamria brought to Burton as manager?

Dino has instilled a togetherness within the side that I have never seen as a Burton fan in all my time supporting the club. From the first match you could see how he tried to bring in a family culture to the team where everyone works for each other and all parts of the club are important. Whilst results still aren’t where we would hope in some matches, we aren’t losing heavily like we were at the start of the season. We have picked up draws against Plymouth, Charlton and Derby in the last three matches where under previous management we may have lost.

Barnsley were rumoured to interview Jimmy Floyd-Hasselbaink for the manager’s job at Oakwell in the summer but opted for Michael Duff. Describe Hasselbaink`s time at Burton.

It all depends on which part you want to talk about! When he first came in, he inherited a League 2 title-winning side in the making, taking over from Gary Rowett. He carried on the momentum of that team through the League 2 season and the first half of our first ever League 1 season, and for that we cannot thank him enough. Although a lot of the credit should rightly go to Rowett, Hasselbaink certainly finished the job in the first season.

When he came back in January 2021 the club was in a dire position, a large number of points from safety, and the expectation we would be heading to League 2. However, Jimmy came in with Dino and brought in a crop of players to boot as moved up the league to finish in a respectable position, picking up over 40 points in half a season. Last season carried on that form, at least for the first 3 matches, winning all 3, including victories against both Ipswich and Sunderland, before the season very quickly being derailed with a large injury list and poor performances, ending in another mid-table finish, which for a club of our stature is certainly respectable.

When Barnsley came calling, we were fully expectant that he would leave, and were surprised that not only was he unsuccessful with the application for Barnsley, but then was kept on at Burton, despite the performances in the second half of the season being poor. It then followed with 1 point from the first 8 matches, shipping 20 goals, and an inevitable sacking.

Ex-red Victor Adeboyejo seems to have settled well at Burton scoring 10 goals from 21 League One games. Scoring was always a problem in the 1st team for Vic at Oakwell, what can you tell us about Adeboyejo this season?

Victor has become the focal point of our attack, and a crucial cog in the wheel of our team. His goals have been instrumental in the results picking up, and it is the different style of goals that have most impressed Burton fans. Including the standard strikers goals, he has also scored a couple of long range finishes which show his eye for goal is there. We are hopeful of keeping him beyond January, although given his form I wouldn’t be surprised to see a bigger club take a chance. If he does stay with us, and stays fit, I would be expecting to see at least 18-20 goals in the column next to his name come May.

Other than Adeboyejo, which other Burton players should reds fans look out for on Saturday?

There are arguably three other players that sit through the spine of the team that catch the eye as a Burton fan and they would be Sam Hughes, a no-nonsense central defender formerly of Leicester City; Terry Taylor, a Welsh Under-21 International defensive midfielder, who is another attracting interest, most notably from just up the road from Barnsley with Sheffield United; and finally Deji Oshilaja, a tough-tackling box-to-box midfielder, formerly of Charlton. Those three, along with Vic have been the standouts under Dino and are all key members of the team.

Finally, a score prediction.

I have to be honest, I hate giving score predictions. If we start as well as we finished against Derby, we stand a chance, however, I am aware of the qualities that Barnsley possess. I will sit on the fence and say we will come away with a hard fought 1-1 draw, although I wouldn’t be opposed to a result like we got at Oakwell in 2018!