3/1 To Win
Liam Rosenior was delighted to see his Derby County side get back to winning ways with a 2-1 victory over Wycombe Wanderers on Saturday afternoon but has urged them to be more clinical following the two week break.
Anis Mehmeti gave the visitors an early lead at Pride Park Stadium but a second-half double from Conor Hourihane ensured the Rams got their rewards from what was a largely dominant performance.
Rosenior caught up with RamsTV after the final whistle to offer his verdict on the 90 minutes from his perspective.
On the game…
Three points always feels good. Deserved. I think we absolutely dominated the game apart from a really sloppy opening 10 minutes from the team.
James Chester has come in for his first game and I thought he was magnificent. It’s going to take him time to get up to speed with the speed of the game but he showed his quality on the ball and he showed his defensive reliability and it’s great to have him back in the squad.
It gives me more options in terms of getting Jason Knight into a more forward area and I thought he was fantastic as well. Obviously Conor scores two fantastic goals. I feel really good that we’ve won the game but we have to be more clinical. I think we could have had five, six, maybe seven today.
We’ve got the international break now and that’s been the start of our season – we’ve dominated other than the last two games before this was not to our level – we’ve dominated every single game we’ve played in and the players are getting better at it and now what were doing is starting to create chances aswell. Things look positive. I’m delighted with the start and I’m delighted with the character and resilience of the team because if you go 1-0 down at home after losing two games before that it’s a real test of character for the group, for myself and thankfully we came through that and it puts us in another good position.
On the performance…
100%. Other than the first 10 minutes when they got a really poor goal from our point of view, after that – I said to the players at half-time, I’m really calm because what our performance is telling me is that it’s only a matter of time. But what we can’t do is allow time to pass by in terms of the next 45 minutes because we need to be clinical and fortunately we’ve got a top quality player in CH that scores two outstanding goals. Louie Sibley had a really food chance, David McGoldrick had a couple of good chances and I’m delighted with that aspect of our game.
On Conor Hourihane…
We have a shape without the ball and we have a shape with the ball and I chaned the shape with the ball todayto play three at the back and give Conor more freedom in the central areas of the pitch to get forward and support. I’m still learning about this group, we’ve not been together long and it’s going to take time in terms of understanding the different relationships you need on the pitch consistently but today he found two great positions, he was more free in his positions because he had an extra man behind him and I;m delighted he got the two goals but we should have got more today.
He does it in training every single day and the great thing for all of our young players with Conor is when they see him train, they see the amount of work he puts in on the training ground to make sure those moments become clinical because you’re so consistent in your technique.
He works on that every single day, so it gets to a point where he’s lining up for that second goal and I’m thinking that’s in. I’m so delighted, I worked really, really hard to bring him to the football club, you ask him, I made 15 calls to him after meeting him by chance and the reason I did that is because I know what a quality player he is and how important he can be to us to be successful at the end of the season.
On Joe Wildsmith…
He’s been outstanding since he’s come to the club. He’s been consistent. He took some crosses too and his save at 0-0 was top class and I think he’s growing in confidence. When you play well in games it gives you confidence as a goalkeeper. We’re working really hard with him every single day and I think he’s enjoying being here and I’m enjoying having him here so I’m delighted with him. And again, I keep saying substitutes are a huge part of the game now, it’s not just about starting eleven. James Collins came on and made a huge difference to our game and Nat Mendez-Laing. I couldn’t start him. He actually had a fitness test this morning just to make the bench but I kept looking round at him and thinking I’ve got to get him on the pitch. I’m so proud of him because he’s in a lot of pain and on a lot of painkillers and it wouldn’t of been right to start him but what an impact he made coming on. I’ve got a really, really good set of lads and a really good set of players that have bounced back from a difficult week.
On James Chester…
I’ve known James for over 10 years. I’ve played with him and know the qualities that he brings. He brings a calmness and composure and he’s like our new Phil Jagielka from last season. He’s played at the highest level, he’s a great character and a leader and we’ve missed him.
It gave me the option to change the shape of our team a little bit, it gave me the option to play Jason Knight in midfield and these are all the things I hope people can see – it’s a work in progress.
David McGoldrick got his first 90 minutes today and actually as the game went on he got stronger and stronger. This is the first phase of the season and if you’d have said to me we’d be level on points with the play-offs I’d have been absolutely delighted. We want more, I want more. I’m not being arrogant when I’m saying I think we should be really pushing in this league but for the start of the season and the bigger picture I’m really happy with the players considering with where we started from.
On the journey over the last 12 months…
My job is to stay calm through the ups and downs. I promise you, I understand the magnitude and the history and tradition of this football club. That was part of the recruitment drive that I led in terms of the summer but yeah we have the sense of realism from where we’ve come from. I’ll be honest, people were telling me you’ve got an impossible job. It’s impossible to get 16 players into a squad, mould them into a style of play and win games consistently. I love this football club and I’m putting myself up there in a position where I still think we can be successful. There will be some days where we don’t reach the levels, especially early in the season but overall I think we’ve put ourselves in a great place at the start of the season and all credit goes to the players the staff, digging in and hopefully it gives us the foundations to have a really successful season.
On the two week break…
There’s a gage between the training that we do and the rest that we need and the players need rest because we’ve got some schedule over the next few months. We’ve got rearranged games, cup games, a really good away game at Liverpool to look forward to. It’s a gage between making sure the players are fresh and making sure the players are fit and it takes time. I’m not going to flog the players this week, they need their rest and hopefully they come back fresh ahead of a really busy Christmas period.
