Gary Bowyer thrilled with vital Burton win over fellow strugglers AFC Wimbledon

Burton head coach Gary Bowyer was remaining calm after his side grabbed a vital three points from a 1-0 victory over AFC Wimbledon.

Kyran Lofthouse notched the all-important winner with a close-range header from a long throw as Albion eased themselves four points away from the bottom four in League One.

Bowyer said: “Delighted with the result. We knew we might only get one shot at it and when it came, we took it.

“We needed more urgency and tempo in our game and fortunately we delivered on that in the second half.

“We go into a tricky next game at Peterborough with a lot of confidence from back-to-back clean sheets and the three points from today.”

Bowyer had to watch a wind affected and scrappy affair from the TV gantry as he served a touchline ban for three yellow cards and refreshingly said he quite enjoyed it.

“I have said throughout my managerial career that it would be good if there was a rule that you weren’t allowed in the technical area and it was left to the players to solve the problems and to have to shout from afar.” Bowyer added wryly.

Bowyer was happy for Lofthouse, saying: “That was Kyran’s sixth goal of the season in all competitions and it is a fantastic return for him along with double figures on his assists.

“It just shows we need to push him and we want more from him.”

A forlorn looking Johnnie Jackson was left frustrated his AFC Wimbledon side slipped perilously close to the bottom four, with a sixth defeat in seven games leaving them three points outside the relegation zone.

He said: “It was a poor game quality-wise and nothing in it really.

“It was very stop-start with the conditions and with the patched up nature of our side we just needed to dig in and perhaps just take a point.”

The Wombles took to the field without a recognised centre-half due to injuries and the nature of the Burton goal told.

Jackson added: “We lose to a goal from a long throw, which is frustrating to take, because we stood up to that for most of the day, although we lost a lot of size and physicality with those who were missing and Burton have exploited that in that moment.”

Jackson also thought his side should have had a first-half penalty when leading scorer Marcus Browne, on his return to the team, went down in the box under a challenge from Jasper Moon.

“I think it is a penalty,” Jackson said. “It’s two hands in his back and it’s just the way it is going for us at the minute. We just feel like a lot is not going for us at the minute.”