Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink says Burton are ‘being punished for little mistakes’

Posted Sunday, August 28, 2022 by PA

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink praised his struggling Burton side despite their 4-3 defeat in a thrilling game at Cambridge.

The bottom-of-the-table Brewers were down to 10 men for 80 minutes after Jonny Smith’s red card, but led three times before being pegged back by the Us, who saw striker Sam Smith net a hat-trick.

Hasselbaink, who declined to comment on his future, said: “Our commitment and fighting spirit were second to none. You see players that really care.

“We’re being punished for little mistakes, and they’re costing us. I’ve got mixed feelings because I’m very proud of the players in some ways, but I’m not proud of the defending as a unit. The first three goals could be easily defended.”

Hasselbaink had no complaints about the red card for Smith, who kicked out at Harrison Dunk off the ball.

“I know he has done something and he came to the team and apologised,” he said. “We’re not in a position mentally to be able to play with 10 men, and it’s just stupid. It puts us immediately on the back foot, even though at times it didn’t look like we were playing with 10 men.

“We had momentum, we were on the front foot, and then that happens.”

Gassan Ahadme gave Burton the perfect start after 14 seconds when he nodded in from close range. It was the fastest goal in Brewers history, but after Smith’s red card Cambridge’s Smith equalised when his header across the goal found the bottom corner.

Burton were back in front in the 41st minute when captain John Brayford arrived unmarked to head in Terry Taylor’s corner, but Cambridge equalised after half-time with another Smith header.

Ahadme grabbed his second in the 67th minute after a mistake by Us goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov, but Smith completed his hat-trick with a spectacular volley two minutes later, and it was left to substitute Liam O’Neil to fire in the winner from 20 yards 11 minutes from time.

Cambridge manager Mark Bonner said: “We showed moments of really good quality, some of our attacking play was good but we made it hard for ourselves against a team who are direct and offer a constant threat from set-plays.

“Playing against 10 men isn’t something we’ve done very often, so that was a different challenge and we needed to find different ways of attacking and exploiting space, and we did that well and were able to see the game out.”

Bonner praised Smith after his first career treble.

“He took his goals really well with some instinctive finishes, and his overall performance was very good,” he said. “You need those moments of quality and he gave us them.”