Next Up: Exeter City vs Burton Albion
Injury-ravaged City came unstuck on Saturday against a rampant Bolton side, and now Dan Green and Kevin Nicholson have a battle on their hands to make sure City avoid getting drawn into the relegation scrap in a very busy month. The first of three successive Tuesday night games is very much a six-pointer on that score, as City face one of the sides battling to avoid the drop in a match that was rearranged due to the fire at SJP. The loss of Ed Turns to injury was tempered by the welcome return of Jack Fitzwater, only for Pierce Sweeney to have to be withdrawn at half time on Saturday. Should the skipper fail to make it back, Green and Nicholson will need to decide between a first league start for Charlie Cummins or to move Jack McMillan into defence. Elsewhere Ryan Rydel may need to be monitored carefully in terms of his match fitness, while Jake Doyle-Hayes was again missing on Saturday. Up front there may again be rotation with one of Cox, Tutierov or Higgins likely to replace Josh Magennis in the starting line-up.
Despite continued heavy investment in the squad and almost a full turnover of players in the summer, Burton have again struggled this season. Gary Bowyer’s side has struggled on the road, with no league wins since a surprise 2-1 victory at high-flying Bradford, but a first away win in 2026 would see the Brewers leapfrog City in the table. That said, Saturday’s 3-0 defeat at Wycombe brought to an end a three match unbeaten run, which lifted Burton out of the relegation zone. Much has depended on the form of Jake Beesley, who has 12 league goals, while a pair of ex-City players will hope to feature in Alex Hartridge and Kegs Chauke.
Conditions were the winner in this fixture last season on Good Friday, where the sides played out a 0-0 draw in torrential rain that at times looked like it would force an abandonment. That brought to an end a three match winning run for City, including a 2-1 victory in the reverse fixture last season – City trailed to Bodin, only to equalise on the stroke of half time through Magennis before a stunner from Alli sealed the points. Burton do, however, still have the lead in league head to heads with ten wins to City’s eight, four matches finishing level.
The match officials for this game will be:-
Referee: Paul Howard
Assistant Referees: Daniel Flynn and Richard J. Morris
Fourth Official : Thomas Staten
We saw Paul Howard just a few weeks ago when we were embarrassed 4-0 at home by Rotherham. His record so far this season is 17 games, 53 yellow cards and just the one card.
Interview with Kevin Nicholson
Interview with Kevin McDonald