Burton to brew up a victory

Burton can seize the advantage in the first leg of the Blue Square Premier play-off by beating visitors Cambridge United on Friday evening. Boylesports and Ladbrokes lead the market at 11-8.

The Brewers finished the regular season in fifth, five points behind runners-up United, winning 15 of their 23 home starts.

Against that, United showed respectable form on the road, winning 11 times and drawing on five other occasions.

The key, though, may be the fact that United scored only 68 goals during the term, nine fewer than Burton, and you have to drop to ninth-placed Oxford to find a top-half side with a worse scoring record.

Nigel Clough, Burton’s manager, is hoping to name defender  Andy Corbett, who twisted his ankle in the 4-4 draw with Kidderminster Harriers on Saturday, in his staring line-up, and on-loan Tamworth forward Matty Williams also faces a late test.

Jimmy Quinn, the Cambridge manager, will be happy enough with the form of his side going into the match - they won five of their last eight games - and will be keen to keep things sufficiently tight to be able to finish the job at home.

Expect this to be tight, but Cambridge’s lack of goals is worrying. They are 2-1 with Stan James, with the draw 9-4 with Betfred.