3/1 To Win
Derby County Head Coach admitted his team ‘stepped up a level’ as they played out a lung-busting 1-0 win against Middlesbrough at Pride Park Stadium on Saturday.
The Rams took all three points as a result of Kayden Jackson’s first half strike and some backs-to-the-wall defending secured their first win of the 2024/25 league season.
Warne spoke to RamsTV after the win about how new signings are pushing the whole squad to compete, the pressure of holding out for the win and feeling incredibly proud of his group.
On holding out for the win…
I’m not as exhausted as the lads and the fans but I think I speak for everybody - check your passport and your driver's licence because everyone's aged by about 10 years! It was an absolute tester. We have stepped up a level and brought some fresh faces in. We obviously need to bring more fresh faces in, still, as well. To a man, I thought the lads worked really hard. There are certain games where you can't go toe-to-toe and press at the front of the pitch because of the quality the opposition have got. I don't mind saying it because the lads know it; they've got quicker and better athletes. You're just going to get picked off and look stupid if you do that. We had to be succinct in our shape and we had to press from that and we had to counter.
Fortunately, we got the goal from it and at times I thought we looked quite dangerous. When the fatigue kicked in, which it did when we won the ball back, we couldn't see the wood for the trees and we gave it back to them too many times. That doesn't go away from the fact of how proud I am.
I was prouder of them today than I was at home to Carlisle back in April when we got promoted because I know how good the opposition are, how many questions they ask of you and how much pace they've got everywhere.
On the skill of Kayden Jackson’s goal…
It does look easy, doesn't it? But he was through and everyone's going: 'go on, there's no one near you, just keep running!' You can feel the whole crowd, including myself, saying it. As a player, you've got the ball at your feet and you're running and you're thinking: 'don't mess this up, don't mess this up, this is the right chance to score. Come on, mate, you've got this, you've got this, you've got this.' And the whole time, it's like time slows down. You can talk yourself out of it!
The best players don't and and Kayden has taken it really calmly around the goalkeeper and that is an amazing feeling when you know you're just putting it into an empty net. It was a good goal and deserved from the way the lads broke from the press. All 30,000 of us, including myself, thought he would score but until it hits the net, you just don't know.
On Josh Vickers’ performance…
Josh was a lot more like himself today, which is great. We want goalkeepers to compete That's why you try and sign players that you think are better than what you've got. That sounds awful, but you want players that push others on. Our job as a football club is to sign another striker to compete with Jerry Yates, to compete with Dajaune Brown, to compete with Collo and Wash. You want someone who comes in and the ones below are thinking they aren't happy and need to train harder and get better. That is what competition does.
I thought Middlesbrough were excellent; they'll be a top six team. We're competing against really good sides that have spent a lot of money, but that's why you want to be in this league. To get three points is big and you need everything to go your way. It felt like one of those days today where I thought everything would go our way. Josh was a massive part of it, his contribution was phenomenal.
