Head Coach Paul Warne praised Derby County’s performance in their final pre-season workout on Saturday as the start of the 2024/25 Sky Bet Championship season approaches.
The Rams claimed a 2-1 victory against Spanish top-flight side Real Valladolid in their final pre-season friendly ahead of the new campaign at Pride Park Stadium, with David Ozoh and Kane Wilson on target in the second half.
Derby, who played six games over pre-season and picked up three wins and three defeats, will kick off their Championship campaign at Blackburn Rovers on Friday 9th August (8pm kick-off).
Warne spoke to RamsTV after the game to discuss the improvement in the team over the course of the last month, using pre-season to allow players to gel and the importance of playing against a team that dominates the ball.
On the performances improving against Barnsley and Real Valladolid…
It was a good game for us today because we were playing against a possession-based team, which is going to be similar to a lot of Championship games this year.
We worked on the shape for a few days, and I thought on the back of the Barnsley performance, we looked a bit more like us. We've been playing games a bit fatigued, so we looked a bit better today. We probably weren't as sharp at the top end of the pitch as we would have liked, but we broke at times really well and defended pretty well.
There are still errors in our play, but you're never going to get football utopia. Generally, I was pleased. It was a really good performance out there. We made loads of changes, trying to give everyone some game time. And then, for the game coming up on Friday at Blackburn, we need the lads to be fresh and ready for that. I’m pleased and also appreciate the fans staying with the team.
On playing against a team that wants to dominate possession…
There are times when we are not going to have the ball this year and you just have to have a good shape and be ready to spring. I thought the lads, 95% of the time, took that on board. At half-time we just said we could be a little bit braver with the press, a little bit more aggressive.
I thought at the start of the second half, we were a lot better. When you play with a full press, good teams can pick you off; that is fair. If you get caught between a rock and a hard place, you're in trouble. You're either pressing or you're sitting off. I thought at the time, in the first half, we weren't in the full press. In the second half, we started really well - and we got a couple of goals. Generally speaking, no injuries and a win is great and I am happy.
The real games start next week. We go into it with confidence. We know it's going to be a difficult season, but there'll be some good games.
On growing into the pre-season campaign…
I wasn't that disappointed after the Chesterfield game. I thought we played quite well despite the loss. We should have scored early on there, but we didn't. Against Shrewsbury, I didn't think we were great, but I know why. We beasted the players on the Thursday (in training), so that was always going to happen on the Saturday. I never read too much into it.
And in the same way, I don't read too much into the last two games either. It's just about trying to give the lads an understanding and get them as match fit as we can, and build a few relationships. For example, I was really pleased with my midfield in the first half.
On stand-out performances...
I thought Ben Osborn, David Ozoh and Kenzo Goudmijn were the three better performers, really. I thought they were really good. Obviously, David getting his goal is good too. It's nice for the fans to come and see the new players.
I wouldn't say it was perfect by any stretch, but it just felt a lot more like us. We were hard to break down for the majority of the time. We were dangerous on the attack, but not as dangerous as I would like.