Buxton's Back With Top Top Bloke​​​​​​​

THE OLD pals’ act is working like a charm for Jake Buxton.

- Dan Barnes

The 32-year-old is in the midst of his second spell as a Burton player and is once again back under the wing of Nigel Clough, the manager who handed him a career lifeline with the Brewers following his release by Mansfield in 2008.

Having followed Clough to Derby, following Burton’s subsequent 2008-09 National League title triumph, Buxton has again re-united with his old boss at the Pirelli Stadium.

It means he remains in the Championship, having left relegated Wigan by mutual consent last summer.

The Buxton-Clough partnership is clearly one both parties are more than happy to reignite time and again.

The defender, a natural leader who skippered Mansfield at the age of 21, relished working under Clough – even if he is cracking the whip harder than usual this time.

“I think I got given a leg-up when I moved from Burton to Derby,” said Buxton, who also featured for Derby in their Championship play-off final defeat to QPR in 2014.