Burton Albion manager Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink was “immensely proud” of his side as they fought back to beat Southend United on Wednesday evening in Sky Bet League 2.
Barry Corr opened the scoring for the in-form Blues, and Burton's task was made all the more difficult after Robbie Weir was dismissed on the stroke of half-time. However, Matthew Palmer equalised for the Brewers, before Nasser El Khayati fired home a dramatic late winner."I'm immensely proud – I love these boys," Hasselbaink said, speaking to the Burton Mail after the 2-1 victory.
"We showed an incredible never-say-die attitude after the setbacks in the first half. We needed to show the other side of us and we did and it was magnificent to see.
"When we came out after half-time we looked like 100 men on that pitch.
“We did what we needed to do. We worked hard, we were organised, we were tackling but when we had the ball we passed it in a way they couldn't touch it, even with 10 men.”
The win saw Burton restore their five-point lead at the top of Sky Bet League 2, and leave Southend trailing the automatic places by six.
“Before the game and at half-time we were going for automatic promotion but I think that’s gone now,” Blues' boss Phil Brown told the Echo.
“If there was any pressure on the players then I’m taking it off them by saying we have no chance of automatic promotion. There are just no excuses for that second half performance.”