3/1 To Win
Head Coach John Eustace gave his assessment and praised the 'attitude and desire' of his squad after Derby County tasted a 1-0 defeat against Middlesbrough in the Sky Bet Championship.
Finn Azaz’s 80th minute strike was all that split the sides on Teesside after a close, battling contest saw little to trouble either goal net, until late in the match.
The Rams now look ahead to back-to-back home games in the league with the visit of Blackburn Rovers on Saturday and Coventry City the following Tuesday night - games which will prove pivotal if they are to get points on the board in the Championship and climb out of the bottom three.
Eustace caught up with RamsTV after the game at the Riverside Stadium.
On the defeat against Middlesbrough..
It was a huge effort from the boys, and I was very proud of the attitude and desire against a team who are pushing for the top six. We knew it was going to be a difficult game. I was pleased with the way we went toe-to-toe with them; especially in the first half and we limited them to few chances, and again for the majority of the second half they didn’t cause us many problems. I felt that we could have gone on to win the game from a set piece or quick transition – so it's then disappointing to then concede in the manner that we did.
On understanding the challenge and rising to it…
It comes down to tired bodies. That's why we have to be a team for the full 90 minutes, because this is the Championship and it’s a relentless league; the toughest in the world. It shows when you play home and away; last week we conceded against Millwall because of tired legs, so that level of concentration needs to be there.
I was very proud of the effort of the group, and we have just got to keep fighting. There’s no way anyone’s giving up and there were encouraging signs today. Young Harrison Armstrong was very good making his full league debut for the club too. The boys' effort was outstanding, and we’ve just got to keep going.
On seeing positives to take forward into the next game against Blackburn Rovers…
We were solid, had a good shape and were very hard to play against today. We did create opportunities when we won the ball back too, but it is just our final pass in the last third of the pitch is something we need to work on. The transitions are going to be key if we want to score goals while having that good defensive structure. At times we showed that against Middlesbrough, but not at the level that we need to win games.
On improvements after time on the training pitch…
We need that quality and belief in the final third, and when we get into good areas, we need players saying: “Can I be the man to make the difference.” We’ve got to keep driving that positivity and belief into the group.
The attitude and desire can't be faulted, especially in front of the travelling fans who were magnificent and right behind the boys. We need to make sure we’re fighting for them and keep believing in what we are doing, then I’m sure the results will come.
