Krystian Bielik has stressed that Derby County’s players will ‘keep their heads up and go again’ following Saturday’s 1-0 loss at Luton Town.
The home side moved into the play-off places with the victory while Derby remain eight points adrift of safety in the Sky Bet Championship as they battle to overturn a hefty 21-point deduction for entering administrational and a historical breach of profitability and sustainably rules.
The Rams edged a cagey first half and striker Colin Kazim-Richards fired a good early chance over the bar from inside the penalty area.
Derby went close after the half-time break too as Luton goalkeeper Jed Steer turned Max Bird's goalbound effort against the crossbar.
Luton went ahead with only their second attempt on target when ex-Derby striker Cameron Jerome nodded a header down to Danny Hylton who slotted into the bottom corner from the edge of the box.
Wayne Rooney’s side pushed to find a way back into the contest at Kenilworth Road, but Luton held on to pick up all three points.
Bielik was quick to highlight the importance of the Rams’ squad focusing their minds on the impact they can make on the pitch moving forward rather that moments they can no longer control.
Bielik told RamsTV afterwards: “It is a disappointing afternoon for us. We have to analyse and watch the game back and see what we could have done better and what mistakes we made, because there were a few.
“We have to keep our heads up despite the fact we didn’t get any points today. We are brave and want to play football and know what we want to achieve and we will do our best to get that.
“The only thing we can think about now is to prepare for the Tuesday game and do everything right to be ready because Cardiff City is a good team and we need to go there and get three points.
“We will go again. I can promise you that we will give everything we have in the tank. The spirit in the dressing room is good and we will be ready to go again.”
He added: “We were good in the first half today, but if you let Luton do what they do best then they will get second balls and they are dangerous.
“We let them do this once, maybe twice, and they took their chance and that’s how it ended up.”
Bielik played the full 90 minutes in Kenilworth Road and it was the first time since returning from a long-term knee injury that he was able to complete an entire match.
He sustained a second anterior cruciate ligament knee injury last January but, over the course of the last year, has worked hard and diligently with the Rams’ medical team to return to action.
The Poland international scored a stunning goal on his comeback, a year to the day from picking up the injury for a second time, to earn Derby a 2-2 draw against Birmingham City at the end of January and he has since built his match sharpness up gradually.
Bielik said: “It has taken me quite a while to get to my fitness to the point that I have been able to play a full game.
“We just didn’t want to force it too much as there is still plenty of games coming up.
“I came back after the very bad injury so the medical staff and coaching staff know they can’t throw me into the deep water because it’s not possible with the schedule that we’ve got. I’m glad that they look after me and I’m trying to give them back everything I have on the pitch.”
Derby are back on the road in midweek when they travel to Cardiff City on Tuesday 1st March (7:45pm kick-off).