Travelling to take on big-spenders a familiar picture for the Brewers

IT HAS become a familiar theme in the last few seasons for Burton Albion - a trip to play one of the expensively-assembled League One favourites with supporters wary and low on expectations.

- By COLSTON CRAWFORD

There is no getting away from the fact that tomorrow, away to Huddersfield Town, is another of those occasions.

The expectations are anything but low for Terriers supporters, who have often come across as among the more entitled at this level.

In the Premier League as recently as 2019, they were stung by relegation to League One, where they had not been since 2012, and fans were aghast at the way the team fell away to finish 10th and missed a playoff challenge with a whimper last season.

When they came to Burton close to the end of the season, they looked a shambolic mess as the Brewers won 3-0 and even earlier in the season they needed a late goal to salvage a draw at home against Albion.

Michael Duff's tenure in charge of less than a year therefore ended and Huddersfield appointed Lee Grant, the former Derby County goalkeeper in the summer. He has been handed a healthy budget and you sense that nothing less than the playoffs will do this time.

Alfie May, Lyndon Gooch, Marcus McGuane, Marcus Harness and Sean Roughan have all come through the door and there are four loans from the Premier League, along with Will Alves from Leicester City.

The result has been four out of four victories at home this season in the League - but three out of four defeats on the road, each with three goals conceded.

They will be expected to sweep the Brewers aside tomorrow and their supporters, as usual, will be baying for every throw in to go their way, let alone all the other decisions.