Midfielder Jason Knight says the late goal Derby County conceded in their 1-1 draw at Bristol Rovers was “a killer.”
The Rams led for much of the encounter at the Memorial Stadium following David McGoldrick’s fourth minute opener – his 19th Sky Bet League One goal of the campaign – and defended resolutely as their hosts threw the kitchen sink at them in search of an equaliser.
And it looked like Derby would run out victorious, until the award of a contentious stoppage-time penalty against Harvey White presented the Pirates with a golden opportunity to restore parity.
Substitute Antony Evans then fired past Joe Wildsmith from 12 yards, meaning the Rams missed out on the chance to return to the play-off places following Peterborough United’s 2-0 defeat at Cambridge United earlier in the day.
After the match, a disappointed Knight spoke to RamsTV to discuss the afternoon’s events.
On the late blow…
It’s a killer, the dressing room is really down about it. We stuck right in there for 90 minutes to try and get the win. The penalty, I think, is a guess. I feel like the referee has seen both of them go down, has listened to the crowd and has had a guess at it, giving something that we didn’t deserve. We weren’t at our free-flowing best - there’s no doubt about that – but we dug in and sometimes you have to come to these places and do that; we did that brilliantly. We didn’t get what we deserved but we’ve got another game on Tuesday so we need to put it to bed and get three points at Exeter City.
On the mood among the players…
Every lad in there gave his job lot so there’s nothing to be ashamed of. We needed a good three points and we haven’t got it so we’re disappointed. We’ve got a couple of days to mull it over and then go again at Exeter. This league is relentless so you always have the next game and that’s all we can focus on. Games are ticking down and we need results, so we need to go there full of confidence and go get three points.
On the mindset of the group…
The belief is still there. We’re right in the thick of it and we need to keep plodding along and look to achieve better results than the teams around us. Everything stays the same for us but it’s one game less. We can’t keep relying on other teams, we need to do it ourselves really. Three points today would have been massive but we didn’t get that. We take the draw and move on to Tuesday.
