Assistant Head Coach Richie Barker says Derby County’s ‘desire and team spirit’ shone through as they took a point in a 0-0 draw against Burnley in the Sky Bet Championship on Tuesday night.
The Rams held the third-placed Clarets to a goalless draw as a solid defensive display couldn’t be complemented by a goal despite Jerry Yates, Liam Thompson and Marcus Harness’ close efforts in Lancashire.
Saves from Jacob Widell Zetterström and vital blocks from the Rams’ defence contributed to a hard-earned clean sheet against the promotion hopefuls.
Barker spoke to RamsTV following the draw under the lights at Turf Moor.
On taking a point away from Turf Moor…
Firstly, we are very proud of the players for their fantastic effort. We had one day to work on what we were doing - and they took the information on board really well. Their desire and work ethic to initially stay in the game, which you have to do when you come to a place like this, and then secondly to try and win it was fantastic and I think, arguably, we had some good opportunities to do that.
It was a fantastic group effort, not just a team effort in terms of the substitutes as well, even the lads who didn't get on in terms of encouragement. Everybody in the dressing room is pretty proud.
On the effort and work rate to keep a clean sheet…
The defenders always get the praise when you get a clean sheet and rightly so. The five lads who started the game, and then the two lads in Sonny Bradley and Kane Wilson who came on to be part of a back five, defended really well. I thought the midfield lads in front worked extremely hard, and in fairness to Kayden Jackson and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, who finished the match as strikers, they dropped in and worked hard and did their bit. They stuck to the shape and stuck to the game plan. The whole team’s desire to keep a clean sheet was fantastic - including Jacob Zetterström in goal, he pulled off two really good saves - but it was a real team effort.
Jacob only had two saves, but they were very good saves. Curtis Nelson won a really good header in the second half and later on Eiran Cashin put his head in the way of one. One thing you can guarantee with this group is that they won't fail through a lack of effort, they won't fail through a lack of desire or team spirit. They'll stick together, they'll do the right things, they'll drag each other out of the mire. It's a really well-deserved point.
On getting a crucial point on the board following the 2-0 loss at Leeds…
We have to keep that final points total ticking over. Sometimes it's draws, sometimes it's wins, and sometimes you don't get what you deserve. We all know that over the last few weeks there have been a few matches we've deserved to win but haven’t got the result. The group dust themselves down every day. They don't feel sorry for themselves, they work hard and are an amazing group to work with. After being disappointed at the weekend, I think to bounce back and come here and do what they've done is brilliant.
