3/1 To Win
Pat Lyons believes Derby County’s Under-23s will soon be back to form after a disappointing away defeat to Manchester City’s Elite Development Squad.
A second-half hat-trick from City forward Lukas Nmecha saw the Rams beaten 4-1 at the City Academy Stadium after a spirited first-half performance.
The senior professional development phase coach was keen to move on from the game and had no doubts in the team’s ability to bounce back.
Speaking after the game, Lyons told RamsTV: “We were really positive from the start, they couldn’t get out of their half and then it just seemed to desert us in the second half.
“They took their stride in the game and started to cause a few problems, they scored the goal that put us on the back foot a little bit and gave them the confidence to go forward.
“It was just a difficult day at the office really.”
In the early stages the Rams had been on the front foot and could have been seen as unlucky to go a goal behind in what was an evenly contested first-half, which Lyons was looking to build on in the second-half.
He explained: “We were trying to look for a reaction in the second-half being one goal down and then the penalty killed us really.
“We knew we were still in the game. We talked about staying at 1-0 and then obviously you’ll get a chance, but the second goal really gave us a mountain to climb and gave them the momentum."
Derby’s Under-23s had been in good form going into the tie having won their four games previous before travelling to Manchester and Lyons is hoping that they can recover ahead of Friday’s game at Pride Park Stadium against Tottenham Hotspur.
Lyons added: “We’ve parked this one and we move on very quickly because you’re going to get moments like this, especially with young players coming to top clubs in the league we’re in.
“I think we’ve got a great team spirit, good characters in there and I don’t underestimate that they’ll turn up next week and come back.
“We’ll learn from it, move on very quickly, get back on the training pitch, do our stuff and get ready for Tottenham next week.”
Words by Andrew Haines
