Burton boss Gary Bowyer hails Jon Dadi Bodvarsson after brace sinks Rotherham

Jan 25, 2025 2 min read
Gary Bowyer was full of praise for two-goal striker Jon Dadi Bodvarsson (Mike Egerton/PA).
Gary Bowyer was full of praise for two-goal striker Jon Dadi Bodvarsson (Mike Egerton/PA).

Burton boss Gary Bowyer hailed the impact of new signing Jon Dadi Bodvarsson after his two goals inspired his side to a 4-2 win over in-form Rotherham at the Pirelli Stadium.

The former Iceland striker, who scored the equaliser against Wigan on his full debut, helped the hosts bounce back from falling behind to Rotherham new boy Louie Sibley’s second-minute opener.

Bodvarsson struck either side of a Ryan Sweeney effort to turn the game on its head before another home debutant, JJ McKiernan, added a fourth, with Andre Green grabbed Rotherham’s second on the hour mark.

Bowyer was delighted with Bodvarsson, saying: “I can’t praise him enough, the impact that he has had.

“He’s one of those players, with the wonderful career that he has had so far, that our players look round and realise what a wonderful pro he is.

“They have tapped into him and then he has gone out and delivered too. It is fantastic centre-forward play the way he gets hold of the ball and plays.”

Bowyer was also full or praise for how his side coped with the physicality of Rotherham and responded to the early setback.

“We challenged them on Tuesday (at Wigan) and they stood up to it and we knew that today was going to be a different type of game and a more physical battle, so I am absolutely delighted with how we stood up to that and the work rate was phenomenal,” he said.

“They saw that they were capable of that on Tuesday and today we concede a poor goal. The reaction was first class and it fills them with confidence that they can come back from a goal down.”

Rotherham boss Steve Evans admitted his side were well beaten as their unbeaten run in 2025 came to a halt.

“We were the better side for two-and-a-half minutes,” Evans said.

“We were second to too many balls, the intensity was down, as was our energy. You only had to look at Burton’s performance at Wigan in the week and it was about intensity and effort with a bit of quality and they have done that again today. We were well beaten.”

The Millers came into the game on the back of successive wins over Bolton and Charlton and Evans felt his side had underestimated Burton.

“I think Donald Duck can get up for playing against Charlton,” Evans said. “They got up for playing against Charlton and Bolton and the so-called big clubs in League One, but the debrief is we have taken them lightly.

“We got off to a fantastic start, you can’t ask for a better start than that, but from there on we lost too many balls in the middle of the park and too many things were poor and we have to get back on the training ground and get ready for Cambridge.”

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