Maamria delighted as Burton execute plan over Lincoln

Burton boss Dino Maamria was very happy with his side’s start to the festive fixtures as Lincoln were beaten 3-0 at the Pirelli Stadium.

Sam Hughes headed home after just five minutes before a stunner from Jonny Smith doubled Albion’s lead less than 10 minutes later.

Victor Adeboyejo’s penalty after 27 minutes capped a scintillating first half with Smith receiving praise for his goal and performance.

“Our start to the game was fantastic and just how we planned it,” Maamria said after watching his side blow the Imps away.

“Today Jonny showed what he is good at. I asked my front three to be on the front foot and Jonny led that superbly.

“Our home performances have been really good. We tweaked the system slightly today to give us a chance to keep a clean sheet because we know we have got goals in us at the other end of the pitch.”

Albion’s last clean sheet was in their previous League One win, against Cheltenham in October, and Maamria knows that if his side are to avoid relegation then more clean sheets are needed.

“As a team we really earned that clean sheet and we scored three fantastic goals as well. I also thought we could easily have scored more goals,” Maamria added.

“It has been a big problem for us this season. In terms of scoring goals we are right up there this season but defensively we have conceded way, way too many goals for our liking and if we are going to have any chance of winning football matches we need to start keeping more clean sheets.”

Lincoln head coach Mark Kennedy was keen to move on from a forgettable performance from his Lincoln side, who had run Southampton close in the Carabao Cup last week.

“I want to stay balanced on what I’ve seen so far this season,” Kennedy said. “That was not good enough from us in any shape or form. Burton deserved everything today, all over the park.

“We talked about the pitch being so small, we talked about not playing ‘false football’ especially in our own half.

“All the things we talked about, where we felt we could hurt them, we didn’t do.

“Unfortunately, it was a forgettable performance but it was one game and will it define us? No. Is it acceptable? No. Will there be a reaction? Yes.

“But it’s not fair on anyone to let one game define us. But it wasn’t good enough. Our decision making massively let us down today.”

Kennedy was disappointed with conceding two goals from set pieces but was equally frustrated with how his side failed to defend as Smith cut inside to fire home.

“Smith is a good player. He is a handful and his finish was incredible but there was so much wrong with that goal from our point of view,”” Kennedy added.