Gary Bowyer keeps quiet over penalty decision after Burton draw with Wycombe

Burton head coach Gary Bowyer was wary of being fined before Christmas after his side felt they should have had a late penalty in the 0-0 draw against Wycombe.

After referee Neil Hair was forced off following a collision with Wycombe’s Luke Leahy, replacement Ritchie Watkins provided the most contentious moment of the game by waving away vociferous Burton appeals for a penalty when teenage midfielder Sulyman Krubally was sent sprawling by Fred Onyedinma’s challenge.

But Bowyer refused to talk about the incident and instead chose to focus on the performance of his injury-ravaged young side.

He said: “My wife and daughter are taking a lot of money out of my bank account right now for Christmas and I’m not going to risk any more going out by commenting.

“I am buzzing with the performance, buzzing with the clean sheet and the spirit of this group.

“They are giving everything, and the supporters see that, and you can’t ask for much more than that. We should be talking about winning the game.

“The spirit that this group has amongst them is amazing and you can’t buy that.”

Seventeen-year-old Krubally was making his full league debut having been drafted in when Albion’s lengthy absentee list went up to 12 missing players with pre-match illness and Bowyer was proud of his young midfielder.

“It was a magnificent performance from him on his full league debut,” Bowyer added.

“We had Dylan Williams ill, and George Evans pulled out ill this morning and I had no problems with throwing him in out there. He was terrific and there is so much more to come from him as well.”

Michael Duff saw his Wycombe side grind their way to a fourth successive away league draw.

“We always value a point away from home and a clean sheet,” Duff said.

“There wasn’t enough of a goal threat from us today.

“We had a one-on-one and a couple of chances late on, but I thought 0-0 was a fair result today.”

The Chairboys conceded four in exiting the FA Cup to Exeter last weekend and Duff was happy to see his side improve their defensive solidity.

He added: “We don’t look like conceding many goals.

“I think last week at Exeter was an anomaly, but the goals have dried up at the other end too at the moment, so we need to them to step up and give us a little bit more.

“The challenge is there. We come away to Burton who apparently have a poor home record and then our away record hasn’t been great, so you value every point you get in this league.

“You have to fight tooth and nail for whatever you get.”