Derby County Head Coach Paul Warne said he was 'really proud' of the efforts of his players in the 3-2 home defeat to Peterborough United as they, ultimately, came up just short in a gripping Sky Bet League One clash to start 2024.
The Rams led twice through goals from James Collins but fell to defeat to the Posh on New Year's Day with the hosts scoring in added time to claim all three points.
Speaking to RamsTV after the defeat, Derby's first in the league since the end of October, Warne gave his verdict on the unbeaten run coming to an end.
On the 10-game unbeaten run coming to an end...
It was probably the worst opposition to play at the end of a busy Christmas period. We looked a little bit leggy and a little bit jaded. They are a young and athletic side and they caused us problems, as we did them, and we started really well. We had to change our shape as they kept getting down the sides of our full-backs and it gave us more control. I put fresh legs on at half-time which gave us a much more athletic dimension. I thought the game was pretty even, it was a bit end-to-end which makes it more physical but I thought we were looking OK.
To concede late with a set-piece is disappointing to make it 2-2 and the last goal is just random, really. It loops back to their man and sometimes it's in the stars that you aren't going to win. I'm really proud of the efforts but we just came up short.
On the hectic recent run...
These three games, against Wigan Athletic, Oxford United and Peterborough United, if you'd have offered us six points we'd have probably taken it. However, when you're 2-1 up at home and you've already got six in the bag, you want that other three. We won't go to the end of the season undefeated but that doesn't mean we don't want to be. It hurts, it stings that we've lost it so late on but I've been really proud of the lads in recent weeks. There were some good performances today and there wasn't a lot wrong. If we win at the weekend at Fleetwood, everything is great again.
On the half-time changes...
After the first five or six minutes I felt they settled into the game. Sibs and Tommo gave us a bit more drive in there and Fozzy was on a booking so it was a hard ask to keep him on. It's hard to be uber-positive after a loss but the group are good, they are devastated they lost and we need to improve for the weekend.
On picking the lads up...
As a footballer, if you win you feel invincible and if you lose it can go back to zero if you're not careful. It's up to me and the staff to keep everyone upbeat. The players have been on a really good run and if we'd have come in today with the score 2-2, we'd have said it was a good point against a good team. The lads will endure the pain for a couple of hours and then come back and attack the last 20 or so games. We need to stay together as a group, keep believing and do the right things more often than not. If we do that, we'll be up and around there.