Monday 20 April 2015 16:04, UK
Burton Albion manager Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink insists his players have not yet achieved the prize they want this season, despite securing automatic promotion to League One.
Hasselbaink’s side are top of the fourth tier, but the former Chelsea striker is adamant that his men will not stop until they are confirmed as champions.
“We are promoted but that’s not the prize that we wanted. We want to be number one and we are going to try to achieve that. We have got two more games – one big one at home and one big one away," he told FL72.
“We are playing Northampton on Saturday, and in its own right that is going to be a very difficult game. We have to make sure that we are right, and prepared well. That’s why we haven’t had any celebrations yet. We have to stay focused until we have done the job properly, and that is what we are going to try to do.”
The 43-year-old took the reins at Burton in November, amid claims he was too big a name to take a job in the lower echelons of the Football League.
When asked if he thinks he has proved people wrong by staying grounded and taking his side to the top of the league, Hasselbaink said: “I have not taken the job to prove people wrong. I believe I would have been given the time to do what I believe, in my work.
“That’s why I’ve taken the job. People are always going to talk, people are always going to put their opinions forward, and that is allowed, but I concentrate on me and it was the right job for me.”
Last season, the Brewers lost out in the playoffs, but Hasselbaink has managed to turn them into a team capable of automatic promotion this time around.
He took over from now-Birmingham manager Gary Rowett, but admits he deliberately did not change the whole dynamic of the club.
“First of all, Gary had done a magnificent job,” Hasselbaink continued. “We took it over, and we wanted to bring our own stamp, but we didn’t want to lose the good work Gary had done.
“So we changed a few things in training, we did a little bit more tactical work. We reassured them that we believed in them and that they are good players. It was always important for us that we didn’t lose the good work that Gary had done.”
