Form
Burton Albion finished 20th in League One last season, only one point ahead of Crawley Town, who took the final relegation slot. This is the Brewers’ eighth straight season in the third tier, having been
relegated from the Championship in the 2017/18 season after a two-year stay in the second tier.
Burton could be locked into another relegation battle this season, as they currently sit 18th in the league, only one point off the drop zone. Their recent form has been mixed, seeing one win, two draws and two losses in their last five league games.
They come into this Thursday’s game off the back of a 0-2 home defeat against Wigan Athletic. However, they did secure an impressive 5-1 home win against Northampton Town on Boxing Day.
The two sides shared the spoils last season with Reading claiming a 3-1 home win at the Select Car Leasing Stadium last October before Burton beat the Royals 3-2 at the Pirelli Stadium in January.
The boss
Gary Bowyer: Bowyer was appointed Burton head coach last December, taking over from Mark Robinson, who was sacked after only 14 games in charge of the Brewers.
Bowyer only had an eight-year career as a player, representing the likes of Hereford United, Nottingham Forest and Rotherham United, operating as a full-back. After retiring from playing, Bowyer had a number of youth-coach roles at Derby County and then Blackburn Rovers, where he eventually became manager of their reserve side.
He had two caretaker spells in charge at Blackburn before being given the job on a permanent basis in 2013, where he stayed for a year and a half. Following his sacking at Rovers, Bowyer went on to manage Blackpool in 2016 and guided them to promotion to League One in his first season.
He joined Bradford City as manager in 2019, where he stayed for two years. Post-Bradford, Bowyer had a spell as a youth coach at Derby before becoming Salford City manager in 2021, originally for a temporary spell before it was made permanent.
Bowyer was sacked by Salford in May 2022 and went on to join Dundee the following month. He won the Scottish Championship in his first season and was named manager of the season.
Since joining Burton in December 2024 he has guided the Brewers to safety in League One last season and won 20 of his 55 games in charge, giving him a win percentage of 36%. The 54-year-old is a strong man-manager and developer of talent who likes his sides to be a threat from set pieces.
Team news and predicted lineup
Burton are expected to be without defenders Finn Delap and Sebastian Revan and midfielders James Jones and Charlie Webster, who are all injured. Defender Toby Sibbick will also be missing as he has been away at the African Cup of Nations with Uganda.
Collins, Vancooten, Evans, Hartridge, Lofthouse, Larsson, Chauke, Armer, Fabio Tavares, Shade, Beesley
Key player
9. Jake Beesley: Forward Beesley joined Burton this summer, signing from fellow League One side Blackpool for an undisclosed fee.
He started his career in the youth setup at Chesterfield and made his debut for the club in 2014. He stayed there until 2017, when he joined Salford City, where he scored four goals in 32 appearances.
A short-term move to Solihull Moors followed in 2020, before he joined Rochdale later that year. Beesley added another 19 goals to his career tally while with Dale, before moving to Blackpool in 2022. He spent three years at the Tangerines, scoring 16 goals for the club before moving to Burton this summer.
The 29-year-old is a physical striker, who is Burton’s top scorer in the league this season with seven goals to his name.
One to watch
10. Tyrese Shade: Forward Shade joined Burton this summer from non-league Eastleigh for an undisclosed fee.
He started his career at Solihull Moors before joining Leicester City in 2017. Although he never made a first-team appearance for the Foxes, Shade was a regular in their youth teams and spent time on loan at Walsall.
He joined Swindon on a free transfer in 2022 where he became a first-team regular, making 71 appearances for the Robins across two seasons. Shade joined Eastleigh in June 2024 and spent a season with the club, scoring 14 goals.
The 25-year-old has scored 10 goals since joining Burton, including two hat-tricks: one against Brackley in the FA Cup and the other against Northampton on Boxing Day. Shade can play as a striker or winger and is a strong dribbler.
