Looks who's back after all, as Joe signs

Joe Powell is staying with Burton Albion – and cheerfully admits that some people will be surprised by the news. The 23-year-old midfielder has signed a new two-year contract.

Powell’s first two-and-a-half-year deal with the club, his first in senior football, expired at the end of last season. The club offered him a new contract but, at the end of June, he was out of contract and it looked as if he would be playing football somewhere else in the coming season.

Asked about Powell recently, manager Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink stated that the new deal was still on the table and he hoped the player would sign it. Now he has – and Powell, quite reasonably, says he was taking stock of his situation before making a decision. Yes, he has looked at other offers, as well a player of his age and in his circumstances, with a decent reputation, might.

“The time I took was to appreciate myself and to appreciate some of the interest,” he said. “I’ve had time away and working by myself. I had a few options come up and I felt I would be doing myself justice to assess them but, ultimately, I’m back and this was the best place to be for me. I’m here and ready to go again.

“I think the majority of fans will perhaps be quite surprised, considering the length of time it’s taken but you’ve got to expect that. I had some stuff going on at home as well, which is now hopefully getting sorted and it’s time to crack on now.

“I know there are a few who did expect me to come back. I’ve seen the tweets. There were a couple of funny ones, I will say that, and they really made me chuckle. But we can laugh a bit more now because the fans can know I’m officially back! I got the final call yesterday and there were smiles all the way up here. I’m excited to