Goalkeeper Joe Wildsmith was understandably in a frustrated mood after seeing Derby County fall to their first defeat in all competitions since the beginning of September in their 1-0 reverse at Shrewsbury Town.


The only goal of the game came just before the hour mark when Rams skipper Conor Hourihane headed into his own net from a Taylor Perry cross whilst under pressure from Tom Bayliss, who had earlier missed a penalty for the hosts.

Derby created an abundance of chances to pick up at least a point on their travels but were unable to find an equaliser despite long spells of pressure in the latter stages of the Sky Bet League One contest.

Wildsmith spoke to RamsTV after the final whistle to offer his verdict on game and also look ahead to Tuesday evening’s clash with Exeter City at Pride Park Stadium.


On the result itself…

Everyone is really disappointed and frustrated. It was not what we wanted and we definitely had enough in the game to come away with, at the very least, a point. To concede how we did was disappointing and their goalkeeper made some great saves down the other end. If one of those chances had gone in then things could have taken a different turn.


On the mood within the group…

The lads are together and the group is together. We work hard every day in training. It is not a case of not having the drive to get to where we want to be. Promotion is the aim and it always will be. It is disappointing when we do drop points and it is hard to take when we have chances to win it as well. We have a chance to right a wrong on Tuesday at Pride Park against Exeter. Hopefully we can give the fans something to cheer about and come away with the points.


On the home form needing to improve…

At points this season I think the rub of the green hasn’t gone our way at home. We will keep working hard every single day on the training pitch and I am confident something will come for us. It is not like we aren’t in games and not creating chances. It is probably that final decision, rub of the green, referee decision or save from the opposition goalkeeper that isn’t going for us. At the other end it is down to us defensively to keep it solid. Maybe things haven’t happened as much in that regard as we would have liked this season. Hopefully we can give ourselves a platform to go on and win matches and let the attacking players we have really express themselves. We won’t stop to try and improve and get better and improve our performances. It is probably a case of persistence and being patient. Our time will come.


On having a game so quickly to focus on…

I think it is a good thing we have a game on Tuesday night. There’s not too much time to dwell. We have another match to focus on immediately. We will look back on today and see how we can improve, but then we must set our minds on how we can get three points against Exeter.