Head Coach Paul Warne says Derby County need to be able to ‘withstand pressure and take advantage of their opportunities in front of goal' as they will continue the fight to get points on the board in the Sky Bet Championship.
Derbyfell to a 2-1 defeat against Cardiff City, despite holding control for most of the game after two quickfire goals saw the Bluebirds cement a lead early in the second half.
Lars-Jorgen Salvesen’s first goal for the club narrowed the scoreline but Derby weren't able to get back on level terms despite late pressure.
Warne spoke to RamsTV after the game in South Wales.
His initial thoughts after defeat against Cardiff…
We came here to win. As always, I appreciate the fans staying with the team and egging them on to the very end. I thought in the first half we were really good. We were the team of the ascendancy, and we said at half-time to the lads to just keep going. We just needed that elusive first goal. In tight games, goals matter. They always matter, but even more so today. We just couldn't get that first goal.
On fighting to get back into the game after going 2-0 down...
We conceded first, which was difficult to swallow. It felt like that was more than stoppable. That was hard, but for them to break and then for us to concede straight afterwards was a massive psychological blow to my players.
The lads rallied well to get back in it. Lars got a goal and nearly had another one from a set-piece. He headed it towards the goalkeeper, if it was either side and we got a 2-2 we probably would have come away really happy with it. I thought we scored a pretty legitimate goal first half ruled out too. Cardiff’s players were booed off at half-time and that's how on top we were in the first half but, at the moment, because we're on this run and I'm well aware of how bad the run is, we're just a bit soft. It just feels like as soon as a question gets asked, we don't step to the challenge. That's what's disappointing for me. I just didn't think at any time we were going to concede and then after we conceded two, we could have let in more.
On needing to strike when on top…
It just felt like there was a little bit of ‘self-destruct’ to a certain extent. All the chances Cardiff created came from our bad play, not from their exceptional play. That came from things like an under-hit pass or not taking it in close proximity to someone. I thought going forward we were switching play well and making them defend crosses and felt Jerry Yates and Lars-Jørgen Salvesen gave us something we haven't had before. We had a bit of a threat and every time the ball came in the box, there was a feeling we were going to score. We nearly scored straight away. Unfortunately, we didn't get that first goal. In the form we're in, taking the lead is a big thing and I just feel like we're collectively we are just letting ourselves down there.
The game became a bit random, but there were two different halves of football. I said at half-time that Cardiff wouldn't be as bad in the second half. We just have to stand up to the pressure and take our opportunities when they come. There are loads of positives, but it'd be amiss of me to stand here and talk about them when we're obviously on the run we're on. We need to stay positive with the group because there's no other way to be. We have a week now to prepare the lads for the next game against Sheffield United, which isn't an easy one. There's no excuses, but there were things I liked today. Fundamentally, we lost, and it was a big game to lose.
