Rowett dampens Birmingham link

Gary Rowett reiterated his loyalty to Burton despite speculation linking him to the Birmingham job and after a 1-0 loss to Stevenage.

Ian Sharps' late own goal was enough to give Boro the points, the defender deflecting Charlie Adams' effort past the helpless Jon McLaughlin. Rowett's side slipped to third in the League Two table as a result of the defeat while Stevenage have now won four of their past five at home to climb to 14th. And while managerless Birmingham shipped eight at home to Bournemouth, Rowett remains unruffled by the rumours surrounding him. "I know the speculation. That is part of being the manager of a team that has done really well for two-and-a-half seasons so far," he said. "I think it has been well documented that I will speak to Birmingham, or I might have already spoken to Birmingham. It is up to them to make a decision of what they want, and then it is to whoever they make that decision for to give an answer. Until I am put into that position, it is a difficult question for me to answer. "What I would say is I love my job here, I am very committed to my job here. It is all pie in the sky for me. "I can be linked with 45 jobs in the Football League, and until something happens with one of them then it is irrelevant. But I am certainly not looking to leave Burton Albion, that is for sure. "We need to do more. We can't keep winning a game, losing a game, winning a game, losing a game. We have got to have a little bit more consistency about us, and that consistency comes with that little bit of quality." For Stevenage boss Graham Westley the result will be a confidence boost to his side after edging a cagey affair. "I thought it was a very structured, very organised, very well-disciplined victory," he said. "We knew what they would offer, the type of football they would try to play. We kept ourselves nice and structured, made sure we couldn't be counter-attacked, and gave ourselves enough threats on the counter-attack that we opened them up. "We created a couple of good moments, and did enough going forward to win the game. "You have got to do what you have to do to win the football match. When you are playing a tactical game, against a side that is defensively organised, you have to break them down, slowly but surely, bide your time, show intelligence, show patience, and I think we did all those things." Breaking news, transfer gossip, line ups and goal alerts from your football club - delivered direct to your mobile. Sign up for Sky Sports Alerts