Maamria hails ‘huge win’ as 10-man Burton hold on

Burton boss Dino Maamria rode a roller coaster of emotions as his 10-man Brewers side came out victorious over play-off chasing Wycombe courtesy of a 2-1 win.

Dale Taylor and Joe Powell both scored inside the opening 18 minutes to give Albion control but midfielder Deji Oshilaja was red carded in the dying seconds of the first half for his challenge on Lewis Wing.

Burton suffered a nervy end to the game with Wycombe missing a penalty before Wanderers substitute Tjay De Barr headed home unmarked from six yards out with five minutes remaining.

But the Brewers held on and were good value for a win that moves them five points clear of League One’s bottom four.

“We have seen everything today,” Maamria said.

“We saw a terrific first half. One minute we are disappointed not to go 3-0 up, the next minute we get a red card and then we had to make a big, brave change at half-time to go to a back four from a back five which has been serving us well.

“We worked well second half for different reasons and showed a defensive solidity and resilience. The biggest disappointment is conceding from a set-play, a corner which we should do better from but overall, the big picture is a huge win for us.”

Maamria had no real complaints about Oshilaja’s red card but felt it was more of a slip that a reckless challenge.

“It’s the last minute of the half and we are winning 2-0. Deji has been immense in that midfield for us, but I think his left foot slipped and his right foot has followed through. From the side I felt the worst straight away.”

Wycombe boss Matt Bloomfield was hoping to build on a first win in the job after Tuesday’s victory against Fleetwood but saw his side fall short, with Joe Jacobson firing a 79th-minute penalty over the bar before De Barr’s late strike,

“It was a very disappointing start to the game and unfortunately, we found ourselves two goals down and it was a long way back from there,” he said.

“I think we looked a little bit shellshocked to concede those two goals and we had to get our emotions back in check.

“At the other end I thought we had some decent chances ourselves in the first half but disappointed to find ourselves behind, but we slowly but surely got a bit of a foothold in the game.

“The red card gave us a bit more space to play in the second half, which I thought we did to a degree but just disappointed with that last little bit in the box.

“We saw balls flash across the box, and we had a lot of shots but maybe didn’t make the goalie make enough saves.

“Fair play to the boys they kept going but there is plenty for us to go over from today.”