Burton Albion plan to put 50-year-old on the bench for League Two match

Goalkeeper Kevin Poole called into side as emergency cover

Kevin Poole (GETTY IMAGES)

They say footballers reach their peak at 28, which might lead some to believe that at 50, you might be past it.

But that hasn't stopped Burton Albion calling Kevin Poole into their side. The goalkeeper coach, who when he retired at 48 was the oldest player in the Football League, has been turned to amid a goalkeeper crisis at the League Two side.

Poole will act as cover for Dean Lyness for the game against Mansfield next week after on-loan stopper Jordan Pickford was recalled by Sunderland.

Explaining the decision, Burton manager Gary Rowett told the BBC: "Obviously that is not something we want to do long term.

"I said to Pooley at the start of the season that if we have to do it for one game, if it saves us wasting money on a loan keeper for a month, then it makes sense for me to do it.

"If we had brought someone in for a month before the game on Saturday [against Bristol Rovers] we would have found mid-window, when we can't bring anyone in, that we would have lost someone to their parent club and we would have been left without a keeper again."