3/1 To Win
Gary Rowett admitted he was disappointed to see Derby County’s unbeaten run in pre-season come to an end at Northampton Town – but he saw more encouraging signs as preparations for the new campaign continue gather pace.
Derby went down 1-0 at Sixfields Stadium on Tuesday evening with Marc Richards scoring the only goal of the game in the first half for the Sky Bet League 1 side.
Rowett’s Rams had a number of good chances on the night, especially in the first half, but were unable to make their pressure count after enjoying long spells of possession.
Mason Bennett twice went close in the first 45, as did David Nugent, while Marcus Olsson and Tom Huddlestone had opportunities as Derby chased an equaliser in the second half.
Reviewing the game, Rowett felt his side – which showed nine changes from the 2-0 win at Kaiserslautern on Saturday – lacked composure in the final third to finish off the chances they carved out.
Although keen to win every game, competitive or not, the Rams’ boss knows the main priority at this stage is to make sure his squad is ready to hit the ground running when the new season kicks off at Sunderland next Friday (4th August).
The 43-year-old told RamsTV: “I thought there were lots of bright stuff but, of course, the result defines how you feel overall about the game.
“We made one silly mistake which we ended up conceding a goal from but, apart from a five-minute spell in either half, we dominated the ball and the game.
“We had four really good chances tonight to score. I am disappointed we lost but pleased with a lot of aspects of the game.
“It’s just that little bit of quality in the final third and last bit of composure to finish those runs, passes and chances off.
“We know we need to add those things and improve with the squad we’ve currently got.”
He added: “In many ways, I am just as pleased as I have been with some of the other games – it was just that last little bit.
“We want to win every game and the results are important, but we know it’s about developing a team for Sunderland and beyond – that is the most important bit.
“Sometimes players are going to have heavy legs and maybe feel not as physically as well as they can do, but that’s part of what we want to do in pre-season.”
Rowett is clearly encouraged by the opportunities his side have been creating over the course of pre-season.
The friendly at Sixfields was the first his side hadn’t scored in so far, but it wasn’t for the want of trying.
He did, however, feel his side were far better when they showed composure on the ball and ultimately, when they did that, got into some promising attacking areas.
Clearly, it’s something he wants to see more of.
He said: “I thought there were some really good attacking play, especially in the first half and, at the other end, we are conceding very few chances in the games which is also pleasing.
“You can see some of the things that we’re working on, like when we get the ball into the front man and having runners past them.
“Once we got control of the ball we tried to get into pockets of space and exploit the opposition.
“Particularly on transition when we got the ball back, we didn’t settle down well and we didn’t get into a flow.
“Once we made two or three passes with some composure, we got ourselves into some good positions and that was the key really in the first half.
“In the second half it was a case of could Northampton hang on and we did get into some decent areas, but the final ball or last touch wasn’t there.”
Derby will round off their pre-season games programme at home to German Bundesliga side Hoffenheim on Saturday (29th July, 3pm kick-off).
