Burton Albion 0
Stevenage 0
League (League One)

Match report written by Neil Metcalfe, The Comet

The hope before the game was more shots on target and a higher conversion rate - Stevenage had the former but not the latter as they were held to a no-score draw away to Burton Albion.

After a few tactical tweaks to counteract the home side's forward-thinking tendencies, Boro pushed on and carved out the best attempts at goal.

They were unable to take any of them though in one of the division's early kick-offs and it finished 0-0.

Manager Alex Revell went for six changes from the side that beat Crystal Palace in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy on Tuesday and three from their last League One game, a 2-1 loss at Huddersfield Town.

That last one saw Kane Smith, Dan Kemp and Harvey White move into the starting line-up at the expense of Luther Wildin, Charlie Goode and Elliott List.

New loan signing Eli King took his place on the bench while ex-Boro man, Terence Vancooten, was in the Brewers XI.

The Burton boss is Mark Robinson, once of Chelsea's academy and youth teams, and that schooling means he wants to have this side play a similar way.

They did that in the early going, the ball being moved between goalkeeper and defence before being shirted through the space in midfield and up to the strikers.

There wasn't many clear-cut chances early on but there was pressure that Smith in particular was having to clear away.

Billy Bodin lifted a free-kick onto the roof of the net in their best moment but Stevenage did have a chance of their own, Kemp hitting a left-foot effort straight at Max Crocombe..

A fracas on 32 minutes saw three players booked, two from Boro, but that moment seemed to lift the intensity of the visitors and they finished the half the better of the two.

Key to that was the ability and knowledge of when and how hard to press the Burton defence.

A Carl Piergianni header was turned into his own net by Jack Armer, but the goal was ruled out for a push and climbing by the skipper.

Tyreece Mitchell almost got in but was crowded out at the last moment and the best chance fell to Kemp.

Phillips and Roberts won the ball and found the attacking midfielder in the box. He opened his body but couldn't bend the ball round the defender and inside the post.

Burton had a glorious chance in the dying moments of the half, but somehow Danilo Orsi side-footed wide of the target from a few yards.

Stevenage kept the pressure on in the second half and had more of the possession.

They couldn't create the real big moment that would bring the crucial goal, although they did have shots.

Unfortunately, although they were all struck sweetly and with purpose, they were all down the throat of Crocombe.

The one time they did force the keeper into a noticeable stop, in injury time, the ball rebounded loose and fell to a Burton shirt in the box.

Dan Sweeney had that shot from out wide while also putting a header on target.

Roberts and Phillips were others to test the keeper, Kemp had a shot blocked and List was just off target.

There will be frustrations but it is another step forward in the Revell 2.0 era. Fingerscrossed they get nearer to the finished article sooner rather than later.