Rowett salutes in-form strikers

Gary Rowett heaped praise on Burton's strike partnership after they shared the goals in a thrilling 3-2 Boxing Day win over Rochdale.

Billy Kee scored twice, one created for him by Calvin Zola, and Zola netted the other, when he played a one-two with Kee and was sent clear by a delightful backheel. "I told the front two before the game that they could win it for us as a pair - and that's what they've done," Rowett said. "On their day they are a real threat and they were terrific this time. I just wish they were both on their day more often. "Just look at the chances we created, an awful lot of them." The Brewers made hard work for themselves, going two-nil up with 25 minutes gone before relinquishing the lead. Peter Cavanagh's unstoppable volley got Rochdale back into it after 43 minutes. And Burton gifted the visitors an equaliser after Nathan Stanton's poor back pass let in Bobby Grant to make it 2-2 after 54 minutes. However, Zola's neat control and cross from the right enabled Kee to dive and chest in Burton's third goal only two minutes later and that was how it stayed. "We showed a lot of character to fight back after we gifted them an equaliser - the second time we've done that in successive games," Rowett said. "Everyone dug in and was fully committed and we've got our reward for that. "It was a good performance overall. We played some excellent stuff and took more care on the ball than we have been doing."