3/1 To Win
Justin Walker says he was very pleased with his side’s impressive 3-2 comeback victory against Blackburn Rovers on Saturday afternoon.
Two early goals from the away side had put Blackburn 2-0 ahead, but strikes from Jayden Mitchell-Lawson, Yoann Greco and Morgan Whittaker completed a brilliant turnaround for Derby and saw them return to winning ways.
The win moves the Rams onto 23 points for the season ahead of the final seven games of the campaign, and Walker was again impressed by the team’s character to fight back and earn the win.
Speaking to dcfc.co.uk, he said: “I was really pleased with the reaction after a slow start.
“I know that the boys were disappointed at half-time in terms of our performance levels and conceding two poor goals very early in the game.
“That probably set the tone for the first-half, but I think they were magnificent in the second-half.
“I thought we played some really good football, showed more patience with the ball and got our rewards.”
After a challenging period of four defeats from their last four games in all competitions, both Walker and Rory Delap had called for an improvement in quality in their team’s displays.
The Rams certainly answered those calls against Blackburn and Walker applauded the combination of both quality and character in the performance.
He said: “We have spoken about the character on a consistent basis, but in recent weeks we’ve also challenged the players to show more quality in terms of what we’re doing.
“We had a balance of that. The character to come from behind again; that never surprises us because they’ve got that in them, but I think that’s as well as we’ve played with the ball probably all season.
“It’s been a challenging time since Christmas, but it’s been one of success really because a lot of the players have been exposed to Under-23s football.
“Saturday was a great example of players stepping into other positions and roles, and successfully carrying that out. They can be proud of their performance second-half.”
In recent weeks, a combination of different systems and different positions for many players have been used to great success.
This ability to adapt and still perform to situations during matches is something that Walker feels will benefit his side going forward.
He said: “The biggest thing we’re trying to do is expose the players to different challenges and show them different systems.
“It’s a big learning curve for both the players and the coaches in terms of different roles and responsibilities within that formation that we might play.
“It has given us different outcomes, and we’re pleased with how that’s going, and we’ll persevere with that.
“The players have got to be adaptable if they’re going to progress in football.”
The Rams next match in Premier League-North is on the 24th February, when they travel to face Middlesbrough away from home.
Words: Marc Walker
