Hasselbaink not 'worried' by Town's change of manager ahead of his return to PTS

Burton Albion boss Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink says he is only focused on his own team and will not 'worry' himself with Cobblers' change of manager when he returns to the PTS this weekend.

The 48-year-old endured a miserable eight-month tenure at the Cobblers during the 2017/18 campaign and was sacked by the club with five games of the season to go.

Keith Curle suffered the same fate this week so it will be caretaker boss Jon Brady in the dugout for Hasselbaink's first game back at the PTS.

“We have prepared as much as we can for this match," said Hasselbaink. "They have a new caretaker manager and that may mean things change but I don’t know that, and I can’t speculate. We can only work on what we know and prepare the team, be confident and look to get the three points.

“We can’t worry about how they react, we need to make sure we are right and react in the right way. We need to take the game to them and it has to be about us. We will prepare on our strengths and work from that.”

It's 23rd against 24th on Saturday but Burton have won two of their past three games and will be hoping to continue their resurgence against the out-of-form Cobblers.

Another ex-Cobbler John-Joe O'Toole - a somewhat more popular figure than his manager - could also feature, while new signing Michael Mancienne is another option at centre-back.

Hasselbaink added: “Michael is the kind of lad you can throw back in straight away, but I must say that the boys who have been playing in the back four have done well.

“Michael Bostwick is back and John-Joe O’Toole has been training as well so he is also available. In the last game John Brayford played centre half and did really well so it’s a luxury I have and I’m happy to have to make that difficult decision.”

Kieran Wallace is recovering from his injury but is only rated as 50-50 by Hasselbaink for tomorrow, while Colin Daniel is struggling with a nerve problem in his back.

Hasselbaink said: “Colin is a longer one, it’s an awkward one.”