3/1 To Win
Darren Wassall praised his side’s “physical and moral courage” as they attempted to fight back from two early goals against Leicester City at Pride Park Stadium.
Derby County Under-23s found themselves a goal down against their local rivals after three minutes and saw that lead double within half an hour of the Premier League 2 Division 1 fixture.
Derby created far more chances in the second-half and continued to push for an answer that unfortunately, didn’t come.
Despite falling to their first loss of the season, Wassall was pleased with the character his young side showed against a very physical Leicester side. He said he was encouraged by the resilience of the Rams side that fielded a starting XI with six changes to the victorious team against Chelsea last week and a far younger squad on average to the opposition.
“We challenged them at half-time, we said it wasn’t good enough, not in terms of the way we played but the fact that we had conceded two sloppy goals,” Wassall told RamsTV following the 2-0 defeat.
“But we had a great response and they really had to dig in and show some physical courage in the duels and moral courage getting on the ball. We were in control for long periods and if we had scored and had a bit of luck in the last 20 minutes then who knows.
“Unfortunately, it didn’t quite drop for us in the box on a few occasions when our work deserved a little more. It is encouraging that we responded as we did in the second half.”
The Foxes never fail to deliver a physical battle, and that was something Wassall was prepared for. As his young players stood tall in their fight back, the downfall was two lapses in concentration on set pieces.
It was the third time in four games that the Rams have fallen behind early, which is something the Academy Director wants to stamp out moving forward.
“The disappointing thing is we knew it was going to be a really physical game tonight, a local derby and Leicester always give us a tough game in terms of earning the right to play.
“The thing that undid us tonight was two set pieces. The manner in which we conceded the goals was very disappointing because they weren’t even good deliveries.
“Our concentration levels weren’t good enough and to go 2-0 down after 20 minutes, you leave yourself with a mountain to climb. You can’t keep conceding early goals like we did in the last two home games at Pride Park and expect to get results at the end of the game.”
Louie Sibley was one of a few Derby players to etch out chances late in the game. The midfielder, who turned 17 over the weekend, didn’t shy away from battles, fearlessly throwing himself around and getting stuck in.
He was shown a yellow card late in the game, after the referee had let a lot of other challenges slide earlier on, but Wassall praised the youngster’s eagerness to get involved.
“Louie always lives on the edge. We don’t want to take that aggression out of him, but he has just got to learn to manage the game a little bit better.
“He is very young, and we love his enthusiasm for a tackle and to get involved. He is fantastic around the place and he will keep getting better and better.”
The Rams will now have time to reflect on the start to the season and get some rest during the international break. They will return to action against Everton and Man City before facing French giants, PSG at Pride Park Stadium.
With one win, two draws and one defeat, Wassall is content with the foundation his side has set for the rest of the season.
“It’s out first defeat of the season and we aren’t happy with that, of course. It’s a decent start in what is a really tough league.
“We are always intent on discussing the performance rather than the results because result can sway on very small margins in games. The pleasing thing tonight is we responded at half time and showed a lot of character.”
