3/1 To Win
Derby County Head Coach Paul Warne praised the ‘colossal’ Ebou Adams but admitted his side’s performance in their 1-0 home defeat to Sunderland was a ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ display after a marked improvement in the second half.
Derby fell to a narrow 1-0 defeat at Pride Park Stadium as the promotion-chasing Black Cats rose to third in the Sky Bet Championship.
A positive cameo off the bench from recent addition to the squad Lars-Jørgen Salvesen saw the Norwegian striker twice come close in the second half with headed efforts, but Sunderland held on to take all three points.
Warne spoke to RamsTV after the final whistle at Pride Park to reflect on the defeat.
His feelings after a hard-fought defeat against Sunderland…
I am disappointed we haven't got anything, even though we played the last 10 minutes with ten men. It was a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde performance from us.
In the first half we tried to send the players out really positively. We just looked a bit nervy on the ball. Obviously, with Curtis Nelson, Nat Phillips and Eiran Cashin out, we had to juggle it about as we didn't have any central defenders fit. It took the lads a bit of time, longer than expected, to settle.
Ahead of training yesterday we had no Eiran Cashin, and we knew we couldn't start Ben Osborn. We also thought Ebou Adams might be out with a groin injury and Corey Blackett-Taylor was a doubt. Luckily we got the news last night that Ebou would be okay, and he was pretty colossal on the back line tonight.
On growing into the game…
I thought we were nervous in the first half. The goal was probably Sunderland's second shot on target in the half. That aside, I just didn't think we played with enough personality. In the second half we did and I said to the lads: ‘Your performance levels were enough to win any game in the second 45 minutes, but you can't let 45 minutes go.’
I appreciate the position I am in. I appreciate the massive help the fans gave the team and in the second half, they were brilliant. I appreciate the people who stayed and clapped the team off. They gave everything and we started having some real joy. Dajaune Brown could have scored on his first touch from a corner and we had a couple of great balls in. This is why I've been saying that we have to have a focal point at the top of the pitch; someone who can win headers between the sticks. Lars-Jørgen Salvesen’s performance off the bench was excellent and he had a few chances too.
On team selection conundrums heading into the game…
Well, I've never done started without two centre-halves in my whole career! That was pretty surreal. It was difficult, I won't lie. Whatever team I put out, I expect a level of performance.
I have massive respect for my coaches, as always. We tried to give the players as much as we could. We did some work in the dressing room tonight in a meeting to give them more detail on how we wanated to play, because they were playing against a team that are used to winning. They're used to being in the lead, but I thought that they lost control of the game, and we were really in the ascendancy. That's what makes me proud, but that has to be our standard. You can look and say Sunderland are many points better than us, but I don't believe that. I needed to get that across to the lads and the fans supporting the lads means a lot, too.
