Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink lauds “very good performance” as Burton crush Accrington

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink was a very satisfied manager after watching Burton end their four-game losing run in League One with a ruthless 4-0 dismantling of Accrington.

The Brewers roared back to winning ways in some style thanks to braces from Daniel Jebbison and Jonny Smith.

Jebbison grabbed his fourth goal of the campaign, turning smartly on a loose ball in the box to fire home after 28 minutes.

Smith struck his first in first-half stoppage time, latching on to Kane Hemmings’ header to run through and slot home to double the Brewers advantage.

The Stanley defence imploded early in the second half, Harry Pell passing a free-kick straight to Smith who advanced to fire a deflected effort home after 49 minutes.

Stanley goalkeeper James Trafford then handed Jebbison a simple tap-in to an empty net a minute later.

Hasselbaink said: “It was a very good performance. For the whole team it was solid.

“Before the 1-0 it was a little bit edgy and we were not calm enough which is understandable but after the 1-0 you saw their personalities growing.

“To get to 2-0 in first-half stoppage time, it makes the team talk different and the mood is different.

“We hadn’t won the game, by far, but we had a good feeling and we managed that really well in the second half to keep on going and asking for more from the players.”

After four straight losses, it was important for Albion to bounce back ahead of a tricky-looking December but Hasselbaink was keen to remain as grounded as possible.

He added: “Of course it is a relief [to win] and we have to stay calm but when we have been on a winning run we have tried to stay level-headed and looking where we can improve.

“We have been through a little bit of a bad spell and it is about keeping your head down and keeping on working.”

Accrington boss John Coleman, celebrating 25 years as a manager this month, was apologetic to the travelling fans for his side’s abject defending which extended their winless run to five games and made it three defeats on the bounce.

He said: “We were in the game for half an hour and then we folded when we concede.

“It is symptomatic of how we have been for the last month. It has been a horrendous November for us.

“I would like to apologise to the travelling fans. We know that was not good enough.”

Coleman warned his side they need to turn things around quickly.

He added: “There are about four of the lads in there who worked so hard to get us into this league and if we are not careful we will quickly exit it.

“It is going to come down to hard work so as far as I am concerned there will be no days off. We will work hard on the training ground and train every day until we get it right.

“I can come out here with excuses but we gave away three goals in the space of five minutes and we gifted the opposition those goals.

“We were second best to the ball all over the park and we looked devoid of energy and ideas.”