STEADY . . . Burton Albion boss Gary RowettGARY Rowett thinks Morecambe could provide his Burton Albion promotion-chasers with their stiffest test of the season at home tonight.
The Brewers take on the Shrimpers at the Pirelli Stadium, kick-off 7.45pm, with a warning from their manager ringing in their ears.
“I believe Morecambe could potentially give us our hardest test at home of the season,” Rowett told Mailsport last night.
“They’ve got plenty of passion and endeavour and play with a lot of movement and fluidity.
“If we don’t play with the same tempo and strength, they will cause us huge problems.”
Third-placed Albion go into the clash six games unbeaten and with three wins from three against serious rivals for a top-seven place – Rotherham United, Fleetwood Town and Saturday’s 4-2 victory over Exeter City.
But Rowett does not set his hard-working side any short-term targets, instead preferring to split the season into 10-game blocks.
“Had I sat the lads down ahead of the Rotherham game and said I wanted six points from the three games, they would have wondered which game they couldn’t win,” said the Albion boss.
“I think in particular the last three games shows the benefits of not setting targets.
“I tend to set targets in my head for blocks of games – and tend to do it blocks of 10.
“In the short-team, such as over three games, we try to do what we can to win every game.”
Nathan Stanton and Aaron Webster will both miss tonight’s game through injury, while Zander Diamond sits out the final match of his four-game ban.
Stanton faces an injection in his knee, while Webster’s hamstring is still sore.
“Nathan’s going to have a natural injection but the swelling’s gone down in his knee now,” said Rowett.
“We hope he gets back in training next week.
“Aaron’s still a little bit away with his hamstring strain.”
Rowett was pleased with his side’s result against Exeter on Saturday, but, like assistant Kevin Summerfield, was disappointed with elements of what he saw at the Pirelli.
“We weren’t overly pleased with the performance at times but that’s maybe a bit harsh,” said the Brewers boss.
“We just wanted to start a little bit differently.
“The lads wanted an extra touch on the ball that we didn’t need and we didn’t play with the same intensity we have done.
“We were a little bit deeper than we wanted to be too.
“It didn’t exactly have a negative effect on the result, though.
“We’re creating chances and a lot more chances than the teams we’ve played against.
“At the moment we’re taking them and that might not go on forever.”
Albion are again likely to be unchanged tonight following their three wins.
ALBION PROBABLE: Tomlinson; O’Connor, Sharps, Holness, McCrory; MacDonald, Bell, Weir, Maghoma; Kee, Symes.
