Conor Hourihane admitted Derby County only have themselves to blame for missing out on a play-off spot in Sky Bet League One - but says it wasn’t for the want of trying.
Derby went down 1-0 at Sheffield Wednesday on the final day of the 2022/23 campaign with Michael Smith scoring the only goal of the game in the first half from the penalty spot, while skipper Curtis Davies saw red for the foul that led to the spot-kick.
Peterborough United’s 2-0 success at Barnsley saw them pip the Rams to sixth spot to set-up a two-legged Semi-Final showdown with Wednesday over the next few weeks.
Twelve months ago, Derby were facing an uncertain future until Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd purchased the club at the start of July 2022 to haul the club out of administration and Hourihane feels that while progress has been made since then, missing out on a play-off spot is a disappointment.
Hourihane caught up with RamsTV following the conclusion of the game at Hillsborough to offer his verdict on the 90 minutes and the season itself.
Reaction to the defeat and missing out on the play-offs…
It is very disappointing. We felt were playing really well up until the penalty and red card and I haven’t seen it back. It is hugely, hugely disappointing. It was hard enough coming here without going a man down and we weren’t able to get the job done today. There’s a feeling of disappointment in the dressing room and not much has been said; everyone is quite quiet as you can imagine.
On the season itself…
I think we have done OK in patches but, if I am being brutally honest, we’ve thrown it away a little bit over the course of the last few months. We’ve had a good few opportunities to cement a play-off place and it ended up going down to today. It wasn’t to be. I think there are some fond memories from this season, because we’ve made some steps forward after signing last summer as part of the rebuild, but we’ve not made the big step that we wanted to. It is building blocks at least.
On next season…
Whoever is fortunate to be here next year needs to be ready. With the size of the club and the demands that come with that, the squad that is put together by the gaffer will need to get going from the off. Hopefully we can learn from this year and be successful next season.
A final word for the fans…
The fans have been incredible and they were one of the big reasons why I signed last summer. I knew the attendances would be through the roof and they’re right up there not only in League One but also the Championship. Our fans have backed us not only at home but by travelling for so many miles away too and credit to them. We’re disappointed we couldn’t get into the play-offs for them and I hope they know it wasn’t for the want of trying.