Skipper Luke Chambers and Freddie Sears were on target as Town ended their five-game goalless and winless run with a 2-0 home victory over Burton Albion in the first ever competitive meeting between the two sides. Chambers headed in a Sears cross in the 15th minute and Sears ended his own 38-game goal drought two minutes from the end to seal their first October victory under Mick McCarthy’s management.

Teddy Bishop and Kevin Bru returned to the Town starting line-up for Grant Ward, who dropped to the bench, and Jonathan Douglas who missed out due to injury, as did Jonny Williams - who played the final few minutes at Blackburn on Saturday after his ankle injury - as a precaution.

Town started in the expected 4-3-3 formation with Bishop taking the more advanced midfield role ahead of Bru and Cole Skuse with Sears on the left and Tom Lawrence on the right of Leon Best up front.

Burton made two changes - to their XI skipper John Mousinho and Jamie Ward for Tom Naylor and Will Miller - and started in their usual 3-5-2 system.

Neither side created a serious chance in the opening 10 minutes with the best opportunity coming on seven when Lucas Akins robbed Adam Webster but the Burton striker sent the ball well into the Sir Bobby Robson Stand.

Town went ahead and ended their five-games-plus goalless run with their first chance of the match on the quarter hour.

Best left the ball to Bru midway inside the Burton half and the Mauritius international cleverly turned and played it wide to Sears on the left.

The former Colchester man moved the ball on to his right foot and whipped over a cross, which the diving Chambers met at the far post to head home Town’s first goal in eight hours and 22 minutes of football.

On 21 Jackson Irvine was shown the first yellow card of the game for a foul on Best after the Irish international had pulled off a slick turn and was making a run towards the penalty area.

There was a major let-off for the Blues in the 23rd minute when Akins was sent away on goal but, as Jonas Knudsen got back to challenge, shot wide when he ought to have done much better.

A minute later, Best found Sears in space inside the box but John Brayford got across to take the ball off his foot before the one-time West Ham trainee could get in a shot and end his 38-game personal goal drought.

Soon after, Best beat a man on the edge of the area and looked to feed Bishop, who was in space to his left, but over-hit his pass.

Burton should have got back on terms on 28 when Jamie Ward hit a powerful strike from distance which Bartosz Bialkowski could only parry out to Lloyd Dyer but the wing-back - who turned down a Town contract after a trial in February - scraped his first-time shot well wide.

It was Town’s turn to threaten three minutes later when Bishop crossed low from the right and Bru diverted the ball straight at Brewers keeper Jon McLaughlin.

Bru went even closer in the 34th minute after some head tennis following a corner. The midfielder hooked towards goal and the ball took a huge deflection and looped just the wrong side of the post.

Town claimed a penalty for handball after a subsequent flag-kick, then on 35 Skuse was booked for a foul on the breaking Dyer.

Burton were having just as many, if not more, chances than Town and two minutes later, after a quick break, Ward played the ball back to Dyer in space from the left but the former Leicester man shot well over.

The visitors threatened again in the 38th minute when a corner was cleared to Irvine, whose shot deflected wide off Best. Burton claimed it had struck the striker’s hand but referee Oliver Langford awarded only a corner and a penalty would have been very harsh.

A minute before the scheduled end of the half, Bialkowski was forced into another sharp save after Brayford had hit a strike from a tight angle to the right of goal after a well-worked move.

Town were fortunate to go in with their lead still intact at the break with Burton having had more than enough opportunities to get back on terms or even get their noses in front.

Having finally ended their long goalless run, the Blues had opportunities of their own in what had been an unusually open Championship game, which seemed unlikely to end with just the one goal scored having been like a basketball match at times.

The second half started scruffily but Town gradually got on top and 10 minutes after the restart, following a long spell of Blues possession, Best went close.

Lawrence brought the ball into the area and fed the striker, but he took slightly too long to get his shot away and Ben Turner blocked.

The Blues went close again just before the hour. Knudsen threw the ball down the left to Sears - in a position well beyond the Burton defence - and the frontman looped a cross to the far post, where Lawrence headed against Kyle McFadzean on the line. The loose ball fell to Bishop, but with a defender closing him down, the midfielder shot over.

Burton then enjoyed a spell on top, Webster taking the ball away from Akins on the edge of the six-yard box with his back to goal.

On 63 Irvine scuffed wide for the visitors before a limping Skuse was replaced by Conor Grant.

Town were next to threaten, Best superbly chesting a cross from the right into the path of Knudsen, but the Danish international got the ball caught under his feet.

Bishop eventually picked up the loose ball and drove into the area but his shot was blocked, then Best hit an effort straight at McLaughlin.

The former Newcastle man, putting in his best performance for the Blues, came close again in the 67th minute, cutting inside a defender before hitting a shot which deflected wide. A minute later, Ward took over from Bishop, who will have been pleased with his lively display.

Burton subsequently put the Blues under a spell of pressure but failed to create a serious chance, although Turner claimed a penalty - much to Christophe Berra’s annoyance - after a Ward freekick had flashed across the Town six-yard box. Soon after, Brewers skipper Mousinho was booked for a foul on Lawrence.

There was controversy in the 82nd minute when keeper McLaughlin and McFadzean collided as Best chased a long ball down the middle. Sears picked up the loose ball on the right and as he found the unmarked Lawrence at the far post with the goal gaping referee Langford stopped play for a head injury to McFadzean, much to the frustration of the Town bench.

With seven minutes Best was replaced by Paul Digby, the striker receiving warm applause from the Town support as he left the field. Digby took up the holding midfield role he has occupied for the U23s in recent weeks with Bru moving into the more advanced central midfield role and Ward up front.

On 88 Town sealed the win and Sears ended his 38-game goal drought. Lawrence turned inside his man on the left of the area before cutting across and Sears, without a goal since the Fulham game last December, smashed home, much to the delight of the Sir Bobby Robson Stand and his team-mates.

Town saw out five minutes of added on time to claim their first win since the 1-0 win at Derby just over a month ago and their fifth clean sheet in seven matches.

In truth it was a game which could have gone either way with Burton, who passed the ball around slickly, having had more than their fair share of chances. Equally, the Blues might have scored more if they had been more clinical. The game could easily have ended 4-3 either way.

The result moves the Blues up to 12th and, such is the nature of the Championship, only three points off the play-offs.

Town: Bialkowski, Chambers, Webster, Berra, Knudsen, Skuse (Grant 63), Bru, Bishop (Ward 68), Lawrence, Sears, Best. Unused: Gerken, Emmanuel, Kenlock, Digby, Dozzell.

Burton: McLaughlin, Brayford (Flanagan 89), Mousinho (c) (Myers-Harness 84), McFadzean, Turner, O’Grady, Akins, Dyer, Ward, Palmer, Irvine (Williamson 89). Unused: Bywater, Naylor, Miller, Choudhury. Referee: Oliver Langford (West Midlands). Att: 15,818 (Burton: 134).

Photo: TWTD

jas0999 added 07:06 - Oct 19 Always nice to win, but certainly no reason to celebrate. Law of averages suggested we would score a goal, win a natch and Sears was always going to score eventually. Burton were unlucky and deserved something. This wasn't a great performance. Luckily next up at home is Rotherham, presumably another welcome three points, but I'm more interested to see how we then do against better opposition. That's the tester for top six ambitions. For me we remain average. Mid table. But good result nonetheless.

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jonbull88 added 07:33 - Oct 19 alfromcol the digby substitution for me gave the town side a structure again, something that went missing after Skuse went off.
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tractorboybig added 07:34 - Oct 19 One swallow does not make a summer. Currie 10 the drivel is yours. wait for you comments 17.15 sat. (hope Im wrong)
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grumpyoldman added 08:04 - Oct 19 Earlier I pointed out that Currie10 was being hypocritical by pointing out that the so called moaners hadn't posted because we won and that when we lost to Leeds he hadn't posted himself. Who was the only person to mark me down for stating a fact not an opinion? Step forward Swn98, who to misquote from the film A Few Good Few, "You can't handle the truth"
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Swn98 added 08:06 - Oct 19 Mickszzzzztactics your post is much like your user name Zzzzzzz
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grumpyoldman added 08:15 - Oct 19 And again marked down by Swn98 for stating a fact, oh this is fun
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Swn98 added 08:17 - Oct 19 Sadgrumpyoldman
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grumpyoldman added 08:19 - Oct 19 Swn98 as previous, you can't handle the truth, fact!
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Elizabeth added 08:29 - Oct 19 A much needed win however the football was a little to be desired ! Why oh why do we hoof the ball forward when we have players that would benefit from playing on the deck ? Hopefully we can now build on this result and go to St James's Park with a little confidence ! I fear that we may get a lesson in football but who knows stranger things have happened ! It will be my first visit there so COYB and do us proud !!

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Swn98 added 08:35 - Oct 19 No your opinion grumpy.
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Currie10 added 08:55 - Oct 19 DurhamTownFan - yeah potentially so however any defeat does seem to cue meltdown on here over the years irrespective of who is in charge whereas a win at times does seem brushed under the carpet. Anyway, that was an important win and we can go to Newcastle with more hope than before yesterday. COYB. Out of interest for people having a pop at Douglas, who I think has been quite a lot better this season, how was Bru?

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Elkcib added 09:03 - Oct 19 So pleased I moved away from Ipswich years ago, from evidence on here it has to be the most pessimistic, negative, unsupportive place in the U.K. Now don't get me wrong I'm not a MM supporter but I'll never stoop to the Jeremy Kyle levels the majority on here drop down to. You claim to be supporters wanting the best for your club, so do I, and I also think MM should go, but come every match day I'm 100% behind the team and feel the imploding of the supporters contributes to the mess our team are in, just like the families on shows such as Jeremy Kyle. Sad times

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corfu72 added 09:18 - Oct 19 A very welcome 3 points.We were under the cosh for nearly 45mins and at one stage Burton should have been at least 2-0 up.With Douglas not playing the midfield played with a little more fluency and it was good to see more forward passes.I felt Sears had a better game giving he saw more of the ball and for me Lawrence had an exceptional game. When Skuse went off there was even more fluency and as a previous poster stated "Let's hope MM can see the wood from the trees".No disrespect to Burton,but teams like this should be dead and buried by half time.This really showed our quality last night that we struggle to put games to bed early and come January just how desperately we need a proven striker.Whether that will happen remains to be seen,but I doubt it very much. Let's just hope MM will go to Newcastle aiming to win and NOT defend for 90 minutes with Skuse and Douglas in the team.The best way to defend is attack.If I were picking the team I'd play Webster as the holding midfield man switch Chambers to the centre and bring in Josh to give us pace and width down the right side.But then that's only my suggestion.I expect we will be back to the same boring midfield,as some say The deadly twosome,which in my opinion never really works As previously stated by a poster."One swallow don't make a summer" so I'm not getting too excited just yet,but those points were very welcome last night.

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rickw added 09:21 - Oct 19 There were positives and negatives from last night's game, it seems most on here only want to see 1 side of them positive or negative. Negatives. You could probably count on 1 hand the number of times our defenders found a midfielder with a pass, First half we were hitting many aimless long balls to the heads of their big back 3, second half we were able to find Best who held it up well or get the ball to a winger. We gave away many chances, especially first half - if they could finish they should have scored at least 3. Postives. We won - and Sears finally scored! To beat a 3-5-2 system you overload them in the wide areas, and Mick got this tactic right - Chambers was free for his goal, Knudsen should have scored and was in dangerous positions several other times. At one point we had a midfield of Bru, Grant and Ward with Sears, Lawrence and Best ahead - these are all attack minded players - this was a very attacking system!

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rickw added 09:24 - Oct 19 seasideblues - Skuse and Douglas will be back for Newcastle away, Mick will without doubt take a 0-0 there and that's exactly what he'll be going for...
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Ferguson added 09:40 - Oct 19 That's a BIG three points ! Delighted for Sears and grateful for Chambers goal - right place right time. Now that the goal drought's over, and we'v e finally won a game in October, lets start looking up the league table rather than down.. Lots of effort on the night, very organised, but lackiing that spark and flash of talent. And too many players coming forward looking to pass when a shot's on the cards. Happy though, and I'm increasingly impressed by Bart. Premier quality, one great save, and a complete rock to build the team on. Sad to see only 15,000 of us there, but I think we all thought it would be more like 12,000 so there's still hope ! With players coming back, and our watertight defence, Saturday could be very interesting ! Keep the faith - COYB

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NoelTheDub added 09:41 - Oct 19 So Mick have we turned the corner not by a long way only for an injury to Douglas you were forced to play a player we have been calling for this long time in Bish and as you have already said Douglas will start v Newcastle no doubt about that one in my mind.Yes it was a long over due 3pts but it was bloody Burton Albion for god sake so im not been fooled by this result because you will go straight back to your bore draw plan A asap.The sooner the better you take out Skuse and Douglas and play a proper RB which has been proven that we are a far better team than YOU think and let them play the way football should but I no you wont change.

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DirtyOldNodger added 10:26 - Oct 19 Makes me chuckle those supporters who say "its only Burton Albion". The way we've been playing recently, I would have thought most fans would have taken a 2 - 0 scoreline against a pub team, let alone a fellow championship team! Well done to Chambers and Sears for helping stop the rot. Both have come under increased scrutiny of late (unfairly imo) so very good to see them both get a much needed and timely confidence boost.

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bobble added 11:27 - Oct 19 I must of picked sears to score 20 games in a row in the prediction league and when I finally get fed up and pick someone else he does it !........ the b$@%&*+t
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pup12 added 11:43 - Oct 19 Prebsa couldn't put it any better !! So I'm not gonna try
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BackTheBlues added 12:22 - Oct 19 We should be beating Burton 2-0 at home as a minimum - and we did! So a job well done! I was impressed with Burton, played some very good football and will definitely give some teams in this league a shock this year - fortunately for us they're a bit naive at the back and couldn't hit a barn door last night! But alas - we've got a win and won by more than 1 goal. I think we looked good going forward, Best definitely had his best game first 45 minutes - but absolutely ran out of steam EARLY in the 2nd half. Pleased for Sears - to be honest I was calling for him to go off, he was abysmal last night, his work rate isn't the issue, but his ability out there - however, lets hope that goal is the catalyst for him! We're not expected to get anything at Newcastle - so why not attack them? But I think Dougie will play :( Hope Skuse isn't too injured!

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debenturedave added 15:08 - Oct 19 MOTM - Lawrence ....best game so far for us.... reminded me of a very young Jimmy Robertson taking defenders on at every opportunity... he can only get better !!
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dirtydingusmagee added 15:47 - Oct 19 the 3 points has probably given McCarthy further time at the club unfortunately ,Personally im just pleased to see Freddie hit the net, he has suffered as much as the supporters with Micks tactics .Hope he gets his confidence back now ,and gets more goals.Iwas a game that we should have one anyway ,i fear it will be back to the doldrums again now ,
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happybeingblue added 17:39 - Oct 19 ALLELUIA we only went and done it...not a bad game for once plenty of chances at both ends Burton done well and can consider themselves unlucky it could have been 4-4 ...lLawrence showed lots of quality last night, great to see freddie score at last and thought Leon best done well last night he has some nice skilful touches at times he just needs to get totally match 90 mins fit

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Pilgrimblue added 17:40 - Oct 19 First game this season (apart from SKY) so hoping I brought some luck! My worry is that MM only makes changes when forced by injuries and we start to see what the team can do without Skuglas. Burton were a big pacey side so Town had trouble at both ends. I thought our defenders did well and protected Bart BUT both Berra and JK just booted anywhere even though they had time to pass on occasions. Skuse in particular helped out but that's where he dose his best work, in our penalty area! However he was out paced by their midfield whereas Bish made some good challenges. So pleased to see Douglas sitting behind us as he wouldn't have coped. Against a big bruising defense I thought Best did great. Tom was class so he should start in centre every game. Also Bru did well esp his pass for first goal and attempts on goal.

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