Hasselbaink hails Burton squad

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink praised his Burton promotion chasers for getting their timing right in a 4-0 defeat of managerless Hartlepool.

The north-easterners, with caretaker boss Sam Collins at the helm, offered stern resistance until Alex MacDonald fired Burton in front on the stroke of half-time. Hasselbaink said: "Hartlepool has just lost their manager and they have a caretaker who has come in with new ideas. "He had them set up not to get beaten and you have to give them some credit because they were organised and made it difficult for us until that first goal went in. "Yes, our tempo was too low but we didn't come into any trouble and had the better of the play. "I must say we scored at a beautiful time because it helped to go in at half time with the lead." Burton dominated the game after the break to expose Hartlepool's fragile confidence. Winger MacDonald struck again from eight yards 25 seconds into the second period after pouncing on Jacob Blyth's knock--down to take his tally for the season to seven. Defender Cansdell-Sherriff headed Burton further in front from a Bryn Morris corner in the 65th minute and Stuart Beavon struck from 12 yards four minutes later - the striker's first goal since September. Burton boss Hasselbaink added: "Second half we did play with more tempo and purpose. I'm very happy with the performance. "At 1-0 we could have sat back, but I always prefer that we keep on going. "We looked really good at stages of the second half, really in control, and doing the right things. "The guys have done a tremendous job and I'm very happy with the outcome." The north-easteners were looking to bounce back from their FA Cup exit at the hands of non-league Blyth Spartans. Pools made a bright start and full-back Darren Holden was foiled on the edge of the six-yard box before Matthew Dolan curled a 20-yard free-kick inches wide, but it all fizzled out for the visitors once they went behind. Midfielder Nicky Featherstone admitted: "We were pretty comfortable until just before half time. "Then, from going in very happy and pleased with a 0-0 and a good performance at half time, we go in a goal down. "We spoke at half time about staying in the game as long as we could and then maybe getting a goal on the counter. "But we conceded straight away and it was always going to hard to chase the game against a side as good as Burton. "I don't whether it's a lack of concentration or confidence, but we need to get out of this habit of conceding goals at bad times. "We took a lot of positives from the first half and probably deserved to come in level, but second half we never really handled their front two and they just picked us off."