3/1 To Win
Gary Rowett was pleased to see his Derby County side show a quickfire response as they claimed a 1-1 draw against Birmingham City at Pride Park Stadium.
Lukas Jutkiewicz put the visitors ahead just after the hour mark with his first touch after coming off the substitutes bench.
Derby, however, were back on level terms within a matter of minutes as Sam Winnall, also a substitute, stooped to head home from close range.
It was Winnall’s first goal for the Rams since joining on a season-long loan deal from Sheffield Wednesday last month.
After going down 4-1 at Bristol City last weekend, in which they conceded four second half goals, Rowett felt his side needed to dig deep after falling behind.
Rather than showing what he described as a ‘mental fragility’, the 43-year-old was encouraged by the way his side hit back.
After that, Rowett felt his side were in a prime position to go on and win the game – but felt the Rams needed to show more bravery in the final third.
He told RamsTV: “At the point we went behind, after our last performance, we could have very easily shown a mental fragility but we actually responded quite well and got the goal with Sam Winnall doing what he does.
“After that, it was about getting the next goal. We had some moments and we put them under pressure but we never quite came close enough in truth.
“We need to show a little bit more bravery at times in the final third.
“When you lose the last game 4-1, of course we want a reaction and want to win the games but when you don’t get that early goal, you start to sense the frustration.
“We’ve got to keep moving the ball, but once we move it into different areas, there has to be something at the end of it.
“There were too many times where we played into somebody up the pitch and then it came backwards again.”
Derby were 5-0 winners over Hull City in their previous home fixture but Rowett felt Birmingham were set up to prevent his side from getting a firm grip on the game.
Birmingham had lost their previous six in all competitions but, after parting company with manager Harry Redknapp last weekend, the Blues were fired up for the Midlands derby under caretaker boss and former Ram Lee Carsley.
Rowett said: “They are probably the first team that have come to sit behind the ball and almost allow us to have it.
“At times, I felt we needed to work a little bit harder to get into pockets and to run forward and commit people.
“As I said, we need to show a little bit more bravery at times in the final third. That’s what we did against Hull, we got into those areas and exploited the space.
“You are going to get games like today but we responded well.
“I was pleased that we didn’t lose the game because that would have been very poor.”
He added: “I don’t think anyone is overly happy with our start but if we had played that game against Ipswich Town and we would have won that game in hand (which was postponed due to Derby’s Carabao Cup tie at Barnsley) then we would be a point off the play-offs.
“You always have to keep things into context.”
