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Tyrese Shade of Burton Albion celebrates a hat-trick against Brackley in the FA Cup this season / | Getty Images
Form
Burton Albion finished 20th in League One last season, only one point ahead of Crawley Town, who took the final relegation slot. This is the Brewers’ eighth straight campaign in the third tier, having been relegated from the Championship in 2017/18 after a two-year stay in the second tier.
Burton currently sit 16th in the table, five points above the relegation zone. Their recent form has been mixed, seeing two wins, one draw and two losses in their last five league games. They come into this Tuesday’s match off the back of a 0-2 away win against Northampton Town, with Jake Beesley and Kyran Lofthouse on the scoresheet.
The two sides faced each other on New Year’s Day, with the Royals securing a 2-0 home win, after goals from Jack Marriott and Daniel Kyerewaa.
The boss
Gary Bowyer: Bowyer was appointed head coach at Burton in December 2024, taking over from Mark Robinson, who was sacked after only 14 games in charge of the Brewers.
Bowyer only had an eight-year career as a player, representing the likes of Hereford United, Nottingham Forest and Rotherham United, where he played as a full-back. After retiring from playing, Bowyer had a number of youth coach roles at Derby County and then Blackburn Rovers, where he eventually became manager of their reserve side.
He had two caretaker spells in charge at Blackburn before being given the job on a permanent basis in 2013, where he stayed for a year and a half. Following his sacking at Rovers, Bowyer went on to manage Blackpool in 2016 and guided them to promotion to League One in his first season.
Bowyer joined Bradford City as manager in 2019, where he stayed for two years. Post-Bradford, Bowyer had a spell as a youth coach at Derby before becoming Salford City manager in 2021, originally for a temporary spell, before it was made permanent.
He was sacked by Salford in May 2022 and moved to Dundee the following month. He won the Scottish Championship in his first season and was named manager of the season.
Since joining Burton in December 2024, he has guided the Brewers to safety in League One and has won 25 of his 73 games in charge, giving him a win percentage of 34%.
The 54-year-old is a strong man-manager and developer of talent who likes his sides to be a threat from set-pieces.
Squad
Burton signed three players during the winter transfer window, with two joining on permanent deals and one arriving on loan.
Their two permanent additions came from non-league, with forwards Kain Adom and Millar Matthews-Lewis coming in from Gateshead and Hemel Hempstead respectively. Midfielder Andy Cannon was also loaned in from Wrexham for the remainder of the season.
Predicted lineup
Collins, Godwin-Malife, Moon, Hartridge, Lofthouse, Chauke, Evans, Sibbick, Cannon, Beesley, Shade
Key player
9. Jake Beesley: Forward Beesley joined Burton last summer, signing from fellow League One side Blackpool for an undisclosed fee.
Beesley started his career in the youth setup at Chesterfield and made his debut for the club in 2014. He stayed at the club until 2017, when he went on to join Salford City, where he scored four goals in 32 appearances.
A short-term move to Solihull Moors followed in 2020, before he signed for Rochdale later that year. Beesley added another 19 goals to his career tally while with Dale, before moving to Blackpool in 2022. He spent three years at the Tangerines, scoring 16 goals for the club before moving to Burton last summer.
The 29-year-old is a physical striker, who is Burton’s top scorer in the league this season with 13 goals to his name.
One to watch
10. Tyrese Shade: Forward Shade also joined Burton last summer, signing from non-league Eastleigh for an undisclosed fee.
He started his career at Solihull Moors before switching to Leicester City in 2017. Although he never made a first-team appearance for the Foxes, Shade was a regular in their youth teams and spent time on loan at Walsall.
Shade joined Swindon Town on a free transfer in 2022, where he became a first-team regular, making 71 appearances for the Robins across two seasons. He was snapped up by Eastleigh in June 2024 and spent a season with the club, scoring 14 goals.
Since moving to Burton, the 25-year-old has 13 goals to his name, and he has scored two hat-tricks this season: one against Brackley in the FA Cup and the other against Northampton Town on Boxing Day. Shade can play as a striker or winger and is a strong dribbler.
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