Former Burton Albion manager Gary Rowett says current Brewers boss Nigel Clough "doesn't deserve the flak he is getting".

Rowett is preparing to take his Derby County side to the Pirelli Stadium tomorrow for a game that Albion desperately need to win to maintain any faint Championship survival hopes.

If the Brewers lose to their A38 neighbours, they could be relegated by the end of the weekend.

Clough - who returned for a second spell at the club in December 2015 to oversee their promotion to the second tier and their against-the-odds survival at the level last season - has come under criticism from some supporters during a difficult campaign.

Former Burton Albion manager Gary Rowett
Former Burton Albion manager Gary Rowett

But Rowett feels that is unfair and points to the gulf in resources between Albion and the likes of champions-elect Wolverhampton Wanderers when discussing the Brewers' struggle for survival this time around.

"He probably doesn't deserve the flak he is getting right now," Rowett told the Derby Telegraph ahead of the Brewers v Rams clash.

"People forget a lot of things in football, but Nigel took that club from very humble beginnings to, and I know Roy (McFarland) finished it off, being a Football League club.

"Nigel then came back when I'm sure he had other opportunities and he kept that team in the Championship.

"He probably had opportunities to leave, but stayed and was loyal.

"If you truly want to judge any manager, you should print the player team budgets, you should print what people have spent over the few years and you should do it that way, otherwise you are trying to judge it on a level playing field.

"Realistically, how are Burton going to compete with Wolves signing a Champions League player (Ruben Neves) for £16m, that's not going to happen.

"It was always going to be a tough season for them, but you have to give them massive credit for last season when nobody expected them to stay in the Championship, so for them to do that was terrific."