Burton Albion confirm manager Paterson's departure

Ex-Huddersfield, Burnley & Northern Ireland striker Martin Paterson retired as a player in 2018

Burton Albion have confirmed the departure of manager Martin Paterson.

The League One club have also "agreed to mutually part company" with first team coaches Gary Mills, 62, and John Dreyer, 60.

BBC Radio Derby first reported last week that 37-year-old former Swansea City, Barnsley and Inter Miami assistant manager Paterson had left the club.

In his first job in charge of a senior side, Paterson took the helm from then caretaker boss Mills in January following Dino Maamria's departure in mid-December.

Burton were 17th in the table when Paterson took over, following which the Brewers won just five times in 20 games - enough to narrowly avoid relegation.

They ended up finishing 20th - one place and two points above the drop zone.

When it was reported in March that Paterson had only been given a deal until the end of the season, Brewers owner and chairman Ben Robinson insisted there were more permanent plans for him.

However, the club have now issued an official statement to say that Paterson has left "following the expiry of his short-term contract".

Robinson said: "Martin took up the managerial position under very difficult circumstances in January. He worked extremely hard with the support of his backroom staff, which saw the club secure League One status."

After beginning his career with home town club Stoke City, former Burnley, Huddersfield Town, Blackpool, Port Vale, Tampa Bay Rowdies and Northern Ireland striker Paterson worked as a number two in England and the United States, including a stint alongside Phil Neville in Miami.

When appointed, Robinson said he saw the "same potential" in Paterson that he did in Neil Warnock, Nigel Clough and Gary Rowett - who were all appointed by Burton as up and coming managers.

Even when in danger of relegation, long-time chairman Robinson maintained that a "long-term relationship" was the aim for Paterson.

Burton have now finished 9th, 12th, 16th, 16th, 15th and 20th in their six seasons back in League One following relegation from the Championship in 2018.

“I just want to say how much I’ve enjoyed my time at the club,” said Mills, a former European Cup winner with Nottingham Forest as a teenager in 1980. “Having been in football for many years, playing and coaching, keeping Burton Albion in League One was a big achievement that I’m extremely proud of. The opportunity to be caretaker manager was a real high point."

Former Luton Town, Stoke City and Bradford City defender Dreyer, who joined Burton from Barnet last summer, added: "I couldn't have wished to work with such terrific people. I sincerely wish everyone good fortune."