Phillip Cocu was felt feeling with a case of déjà vu as mistakes proved to be Derby County undoing as they fell to a 2-1 defeat at Cardiff City in the Sky Bet Championship on Tuesday evening.
The result in the Welsh capital leaves the Rams all-but out of the race for the play-off places with two matches left to play, as they are six points adrift of the top six.
Cardiff took the lead early on when Jason Knight's back-pass was intercepted by Junior Hoilett, who calmly rolled the ball into the net past the stranded Kelle Roos.
Knight made amends with a thumping finish to level after a super Derby break saw Louie Sibley play the Republic of Ireland Under-21 international in on goal.
However, the crucial moment of the game came just before the hour mark when skipper Wayne Rooney was dispossessed by Cardiff’s Lee Tomlin, who raced clear and scored the winner with a low drive.
The result further strengthens Cardiff’s push for a play-off spot as they occupy sixth place in the standings.
After a run of five wins and a draw from six matches either side of the break in the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Derby gave themselves an outside chance of reaching the play-off places for a third successive season.
A 2-0 loss at high-flying West Bromwich Albion and a 3-1 loss at home to in-form Brentford last week provided Cocu’s side with an uphill battle - and the defeat to the Bluebirds has left the Rams in tenth spot.
Cocu was bitterly disappointed that, despite a strong defensive showing and producing some eye-catching football, his side contributed to their own downfall and returned home with nothing to show for their efforts.
Speaking to RamsTV after the game, Cocu said: “It’s really getting a big frustration for myself and also for the team that two mistakes cost us.
“We played good football and it’s two mistakes, unnecessary and not under pressure, cost us. We have worked so hard to be in a good position to give it a serious go at reaching the play-offs and we lose three games.
“In the three games, we have made four mistakes and that is too much. It is our own fault and it’s the mistakes that cost us the game, not the way we played.”
He added: “We have faced good opponents, who have their qualities, but we definitely have to look at ourselves and it’s a pity.
“We played strong and solid in defence and it’s good to see, but it’s the mistakes which cost us the game."
Cocu was clearly frustrated when he took advantage of the first-half drinks break to deliver some instructions to his side.
After a slow start, the Dutchman’s stern words had the desired effects and the Rams dominated the latter part of the half.
They were 1-0 down at the time and quickly equalised through Knight’s second goal in as many games.
However, despite getting into some promising attacking areas late in the first half an early in the second half, they were not able to get ahead before Tomlin struck.
The Derby boss believes there is plenty of quality within his squad and feels his side should have the belief to play their own game no matter what the occasion.
He said: “My frustration was that in the first 10 or 15 minutes that it seemed we nervous or scared so we didn’t play and didn’t want to have the ball.
“We improved and scored an equaliser and that is no coincidence and I repeated myself at half time.
“We have quality and we have to put up a fight if they have got the ball because they are a strong side, but we confirmed again that we can do it. The first 15 minutes, though, I cannot accept that.”
He added: “We have shown great progress in our development of how we play the game and because it’s an important game we should not pass the ball and hide.
“I think they realised at the drinks break that we need to play our own game, and they did so that’s why it’s hard to talk about now for me.”
Derby return to action at Pride Park Stadium in their final home fixture of the season on Sunday against Leeds United (2pm kick-off).
