POST-MATCH INTERVIEW: ‘The lads gave their all in a brave performance’ - Warne

Head Coach Paul Warne says his Derby County side battled hard and came away disappointed not to take any points in a tight contest with Leeds United at Pride Park Stadium on Sunday evening.

The Rams fell to a 1-0 defeat as Brendan Aaronson netted late in the second half to break the deadlock in a hard-fought contest before a crowd of over 32,000 supporters at Pride Park Stadium. The win saw Leeds solidify their spot at the top of the division, while thre Rams remain in mid-table.

Warne caught up with RamsTV after the game to round off 2024.

On pushing Leeds to the end…

It's been a good year - and we wanted to end it as positively as we could today. We made changes to try and win the game. Apart from the first ten minutes, I thought it was quite an even match. Both teams had a punch, so to speak.

It looked like a very well-worked goal to win it. I thought it would take something special to beat us today. Our backline was really good. All five of them, including Jacob in goal, were really good. I know every team is going to create chances, and they created a couple. When needed, we made saves and defended wewll too. I felt that we showed them a bit too much respect at times, but when we were a bit braver and challenged Leeds to get through us, I thought the lads were really good. They can take a lot of confidence from that because I think that's a top-two team.

On an encouraging performance…

I'm a realist. All I have to do is try and get the best performance out of these players. I think the coaches and all the physios have done that. The players give us everything. We had to make changes because some of the lads were on the edge (of fatigue).

There's no getting away from the fact that it would have been nicer not to play West Brom three days ago and come into this with a little bit more energy. However, the lads have given the fanbase something to be proud of and something to cheer on in both of the last two home games. Unfortunately, I've had to go in the dressing room after and they're disappointed, and I understand why because they don't want to ever lose football games.

On Leeds’ set-up…

I've got a lot of respect for Daniel Farke and what he's done as a coach. You use what you have at your disposal and he's able to call upon very good players. I did feel as the game was going on that they were getting a bit smaller as a team, I was thinking if we could win some more corners or something, we might give ourselves a real good chance. The last five minutes were a bit disappointing because I felt like the match just fizzled out. That's what the best teams do, they just manage the game.