Dummett praises Magpies for professional display

A relatively quiet opening period sprung to life on the half-hour mark, as Matt Ritchie converted from the penalty spot after a foul on Dwight Gayle.

However, to the bewilderment of players, coaching staff and supporters alike, referee Keith Stroud disallowed the wide-man’s goal, and awarded Burton a free-kick instead.

After a lengthy stoppage – in which Stroud and his fellow officials looked to clarify what had gone on – the two sides headed into the break goalless.

Ritchie, however, did get his name onto the scoresheet eventually, notching a 68^th-minute winner from the edge of the penalty area.

And left-back Dummett felt that United did well to keep their emotions in check as the clash threatened to descend into farce.

“To be honest, I didn’t know what was going on or what the referee had given the free-kick for – and I don’t think he actually did,” he told nufc.co.uk. “I know they’ve made a statement now, and admitted they’ve made a mistake.

“We knew we had to stay focused. Our job was to win the game, and we had to let the referee do his job. We had to concentrate on ourselves and not get drawn into his mistakes. We kept on going, and we got what we deserved.

“If we hadn’t have won, it’d have been even worse, and there’d be more complaints and more said (about the penalty incident). But, it was a positive performance from us. Burton defended deep all game, and I’d guess we had a high amount of possession. They came to frustrate us, and in keeping it to 1-0, they did quite well with that. Three points was all that mattered, though, and that’s what we’ve got.”

Victory was made all the more important owing to events at the John Smith’s Stadium, where third-placed Huddersfield Town ran out comfortable winners against Norwich City.

With just six games of the campaign remaining, Dummett acknowledged that United have taken another big step in the right direction by seeing off the Brewers – and has set his sights on an unbeaten finale with the Sky Bet Championship crown up for grabs.

“As the manager has said, before Saturday, we were looking at a mini-league of eight games. We’ve started with two wins, and that’s six points more towards our goal for the end of the season,” he said.

“There are six more games to go now, and we want to get as many points as we can, and try and go the rest of the season unbeaten, really. We want to win them all.”