Burton Albion boss Nigel Clough hails 'remarkable' promotion
Sunday 8 May 2016 18:48, UK
Nigel Clough has hailed Burton's "remarkable" promotion to the Sky Bet Championship after drawing 0-0 with Doncaster on the final day on the season.
The Brewers needed at least a point to seal an instant jump into England's second tier, and managed to see out the game despite their rivals Walsall thrashing Port Vale 5-0.
Clough originally joined the club when they were playing non-league football during the 1998/99 season as a player-manager and returned earlier this year after the departure of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink to QPR.
The former striker has now lead the club he made over 200 appearances for over ten years into the Championship for the first time in their history.
"When I was here before, we were in the Southern League Premier Division, going to Weymouth and Dorchester and having a bacon sandwich at 8am on a Saturday morning and all of a sudden, we're in the Championship. It is truly, truly remarkable," Clough told Sky Sports.
"We saw the other result coming through and we thought that we could afford to concede and it's fitting with all the clean sheets we've had that we secure it with a 0-0.
"We knew we could get a clean sheet today and it would be enough. The lads have got belief and that's what they can do. The previous two managers Gary Rowett and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink have instilled that into them and that's what you saw today.
"We were concerned about the winless run earlier in the season in some ways but we kept grinding it out and those points are very important. I just said to Tyler Walker, he got us a 93rd minute equaliser against Bury and that could have been the goal that got us up."
Burton go up to the Sky Bet Championship with a final tally of 85 points - two behind eventual champions Wigan - and will be playing the likes of Aston Villa, Leeds and Clough's former side Nottingham Forest.
But he isn't quite looking forward to life in a new division just yet, with the staff and players set for a celebration on Sunday evening.
"I haven't even thought about next season," Clough added. "We're going to have one of the biggest parties in Burton tonight I think it's ever seen and we're not even thinking about the Championship yet."
