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Just a decade ago Burton Albion were gearing up for an FA Trophy game at Colwyn Bay while Wanderers were preparing to face Manchester City in the Premier League.
A week earlier, Gavin McCann’s goal made Whites the only English team to beat Red Star Belgrade on their own turf in the UEFA Cup while Nigel Clough’s side had been beaten 1-0 in front of 1,300 fans at Barnet’s Underhill.
Nevertheless they meet on relatively equal footing as Championship clubs at the Macron tomorrow with one thing very much in common.
Wanderers were written off by all and sundry after just 11 games, during which they had collected a miserly two points. And likewise, the Brewers have been condemned by some as relegation fodder after winning just one of their last 13 in all competitions and sinking to the foot of the table.
Just four points separate the two side at start of play and Burton boss Clough feels his side can draw some inspiration from what has happened at the Macron since October.
“I think people made the assumption, wrongly, that Bolton after the start they had wouldn’t recover,” he said.
“And I think now people are making that assumption about us now, which is good.
“They proved that you can recover, whether it’ll be enough, I don’t know.
“Bolton aren’t as bad as their start suggested.
“You look at the squad on paper and like an awful lot of teams, they’ve got a very good experience Championship squad.
“They’ve just taken a little bit of time adjusting to life in this division.
“They got off to a bad start and now I think they’ve lost just two games in 10 now, so that’s not too bad a team.”
Burton won on their only visit to the Macron, that back in a League Cup fixture at the start of the ill-fated 2015/16 campaign under Neil Lennon.
Clough described the club’s two contrasting journeys as “incredible” but is not fooled by Wanderers’ fall from grace in the last decade, enforcing on his players the area they are about to enter.
“The fact they went down into League One or whatever, they are still a very, very big club,” he said.
“We’ll look at the facilities and the beautiful stadium they’ve got on Saturday.
“It’ll emphasise the difference, even with teams like Bolton, the difference there is at this level of football.”
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A week earlier, Gavin McCann’s goal made Whites the only English team to beat Red Star Belgrade on their own turf in the UEFA Cup while Nigel Clough’s side had been beaten 1-0 in front of 1,300 fans at Barnet’s Underhill.
Nevertheless they meet on relatively equal footing as Championship clubs at the Macron tomorrow with one thing very much in common.
Wanderers were written off by all and sundry after just 11 games, during which they had collected a miserly two points. And likewise, the Brewers have been condemned by some as relegation fodder after winning just one of their last 13 in all competitions and sinking to the foot of the table.
Just four points separate the two side at start of play and Burton boss Clough feels his side can draw some inspiration from what has happened at the Macron since October.
“I think people made the assumption, wrongly, that Bolton after the start they had wouldn’t recover,” he said.
“And I think now people are making that assumption about us now, which is good.
“They proved that you can recover, whether it’ll be enough, I don’t know.
“Bolton aren’t as bad as their start suggested.
“You look at the squad on paper and like an awful lot of teams, they’ve got a very good experience Championship squad.
“They’ve just taken a little bit of time adjusting to life in this division.
“They got off to a bad start and now I think they’ve lost just two games in 10 now, so that’s not too bad a team.”
Burton won on their only visit to the Macron, that back in a League Cup fixture at the start of the ill-fated 2015/16 campaign under Neil Lennon.
Clough described the club’s two contrasting journeys as “incredible” but is not fooled by Wanderers’ fall from grace in the last decade, enforcing on his players the area they are about to enter.
“The fact they went down into League One or whatever, they are still a very, very big club,” he said.
“We’ll look at the facilities and the beautiful stadium they’ve got on Saturday.
“It’ll emphasise the difference, even with teams like Bolton, the difference there is at this level of football.”
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