Mason Bennett and Kellan Gordon have set their sights on achieving an immediate reaction when Derby County’s Under 23s travel to take on Liverpool on Sunday afternoon.
Darren Wassall’s side will resume their Premier League 2 Division 1 survival mission against the high-flying Reds at their Academy base on Merseyside and will be looking for a return to winning ways, kick-off: 1pm.The Rams slipped to a harsh 4-1 defeat away at Hull City earlier this week – a result that brought their five-game unbeaten streak, prior to that Premier League Cup clash in North Ferriby, to an end.
Now, though, Gordon only has eyes for starting another one against Liverpool.
He told dcfc.co.uk: “Anyone at the game earlier this week would have seen that we created a lot of chances.
“Hull took their opportunities when they came, but looking at the entire game, we didn’t deserve what we got.
“Their equaliser played a big part in the final outcome, it was disappointing night for us.
“We can be proud of the five-game unbeaten run that we were on before the Hull fixture, but now it’s all about starting another one.
“We have picked our heads up and have worked a lot on making sure that we are ready for Liverpool on Sunday.
“We know it’s going to be a tough, but we have proven in our last five games, prior to Hull, that we can compete with these teams.
“We have improved massively. We have to take that into Liverpool and make sure there isn’t anything hanging over us from the defeat at Hull.”
Derby had won two and drawn three of their fixtures prior to that 4-1 defeat at Hull.
Those two wins came against Manchester City (1-3) and Manchester United (5-3) – the latter of which moved Wassall’s side off the foot of the Division 1 table and to within a single point of safety.
Those two aforementioned victories, though, have proven once again that the Rams’ Under 23s are more than capable of mixing it with the best in the league.
On that, Bennett said: “We can beat anyone on our day. When you come away disappointed after only beating Manchester United’s Under 23s 5-3 that says a lot.
“That game alone showed how good we can be. There’s still a long way to go and we must fight and try and win every game that we can to try and stay in this league.
“We have shown a lot of good character, we have a great team spirit and that can take us a long way.
“It’s going to be another tough test this weekend. They have got some great young players – a lot of which have had a taste of playing in the first team this season too.
“It will be a great test to see where we are as a team and what we can do, again, against one of the division’s best teams.”
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