On-loan defender Matthew Clarke admitted there was a feeling of hurt in the Derby County dressing room after a 2-1 defeat at Cardiff City on Tuesday all-but ended their play-off aspirations.
The loss at Cardiff City Stadium leaves the Rams six points adrift of the top six with only two matches remaining in the Sky Bet Championship campaign.
Lee Tomlin’s second-half strike proved to be the winner, after Derby’s Jason Knight had cancelled out Junior Hoilett’s early strike before half-time in the Welsh capital.
Derby’s consistent form from the halfway stage of the season, combined with a five-game winning run either side of the suspension of the campaign due to the COVID-19 outbreak, propelled them into the play-off race.
However, a run of three successive defeats against sides in the division’s current top six over the last week has brought a premature end to their hopes of breaking into the play-off spots.
Clarke, who has been a regular at the heart of the defence during the season after signing on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion last August, says to come so close and just fall short is tough to take.
“It hurts,” Clarke told RamsTV after the game at Cardiff. “There are still a few games left in the season and having nothing to play for is probably the worst thing in football.
“You aspire to achieve things. You look at Wycombe Wanderers on Monday (winning promotion to the Championship from League 1 via the play-offs) and think we maybe we could have a chance of achieving something special like that.
“We all want the chance to have success like that, so it hurts. We started well after the restart to the season and you start to think there is a real chance and to then fall short is frustrating.”
He added: “You don’t play football to come so far, fall short and pat yourself on the back.”
Despite a promising showing against the Bluebirds, and in recent games, the avoidable concession of goals has contributed to Derby’s run of one point from their last four outings.
Clarke was quick to admit that the Rams have been punished for their errors in recent games.
He said: “You have got to get the details right in games and the fine margins are that if you don’t then you will get punished.
“Ultimately, in the last few games, it’s the mistakes that have cost us.”
He added: “That has been the theme recently. You get yourself in a good position, then it’s our job on the pitch to go forward with that and go in the ascendency, get ahead and try to control the game.”
“You can’t make mistakes and expect to get anything.”
Derby face their final home game of the season against automatic promotion hopefuls Leeds United at Pride Park Stadium on Sunday (2pm kick-off) - and Clarke says the Rams must be raring to go once again.
He said: “We have to dust ourselves down and give a good account of ourselves on Sunday.
“We have to prepare properly and play as if there is everything to play for and try to get the win.”
