Athletic seem to have shaken the "first round cup exit" tag well and surely off their backs. After the 3-1 midweek JPT success over Crewe Alexandra, they followed it up with a similar victory over Burton Albion in the FA Cup. Before this season they had tasted a barren three years with cruel first round exits from all the cups and trophies they had chased. The match got off to a frenetic start with two penalties and a sending off in the first six minutes. Shefki Kuqi scored the first penalty but missed the second as the Brewers were reduced to ten men after having central defender Ryan Austin sent off. The Latics did enough to win the tie in the first half as they sailed into a 3-0 lead with further goals from Robbie Simpson and Dean Furman.
Boss Paul Dickov commented, "We went in 3-0 ahead at half time and I warned the players that Paul Peschisolido's (Burton manager) team talk would have been similar to mine against Bury. In the second half we didn't have any real tempo to our game and we didn't work Burton enough. I have won my first tie in the FA Cup as a manager and it is all about getting into the next round. It was not perfect by any means, but we have won through and have no injuries."