Derby County boss Paul Warne has admitted that Luke McNally’s winner in the Rams’ defeat to Bristol City was a “horrendous” goal for his side to concede.
Liam Manning’s Robins extended their unbeaten run to four matches over the festive period with a 1-0 win over Derby on Saturday afternoon, with McNally’s third goal of the season proving to be enough to keep all three points at Ashton Gate.
The former Burnley defender turned home Scott Twine’s first-half free kick on the half volley having somehow managed to lose his marker inside the Rams’ penalty box. Although the Rams have looked solid when defending set-pieces so far this season, Warne was left frustrated by his side’s showing in the West Country,
“Horrendous goal to concede,” admitted the Derby boss when asked about City’s opener after the full-time whistle. “There’s nothing good about it. We made a mix-up in the bottom left corner. We then give away a free-kick. We then don’t defend the free-kick well, which is unlike us. Our record on defending set-pieces is really good and you don’t need to give a team at home in this league any leg up.
“I thought prior to that, in my head, and I am biased, I thought at the start of the game we were quite good. They score, that gives them a bit of confidence and their 10s then cause a bit more of a problem.”
Saturday afternoon’s game was City’s fourth in 10 days and their final match of the busy festive period. In his post-match press conference, Manning admitted his side was running on empty before the game even got underway against Derby at Ashton Gate.
Although Warne was reluctant to blame his team’s “jaded” display entirely on the hectic Championship schedule, he did believe it had an impact having come away from the West Country disappointed.
“I didn’t think it was representative of us as a team really,” explained the 51-year-old. “I just felt we looked a little bit off it, a little bit jaded. I thought both teams looked a bit like that at the end of a vigorous run really. Everyone just looked a bit jaded and we probably didn’t have enough of a goal threat.
“I thought first half we had a couple. We concede off a free-kick, we have a really good chance off our free-kick. One yard either side of the ‘keeper, it’s 1-1 and sometimes games come down to that. Obviously, the last 15 minutes that all down on me. I’ve thrown everything I can at it to try and get a goal and they get a counter on us, they’re an athletic young team. I was disappointed with our performance really, that’s the truth. We’re better than that.”
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The final whistle on Saturday afternoon was greeted by some boos from the travelling support sitting in the Ateyo Stand. The Rams have now lost four of their last five matches and sit just four points above the relegation zone, having won promotion back to the Championship last season.
On paper, Derby have more than enough quality in their ranks to avoid the drop this term, as they showed in their 3-0 against Bristol City at Pride Park earlier this season, but there is a feeling of frustration among some sections of the fanbase. While Warne understands the supporters’ reaction, he was keen to praise the Robins for making his side’s life difficult.
“Fans are never happy if you don’t win, I appreciate that,” said the Rams boss. “In fairness, we didn’t win at Sheffield Wednesday and the fans were good. I can understand why fans wouldn’t be happy today and nor am I. I don’t think that was an amazing performance.
“This is an excuse and nobody will like it but we’ve got a few key players out, and we’ve got a lot of illness in the camp amongst the staff and the players. I had one drop out during the warm-up, and I had another one with illness. He didn’t drop out but he stayed on the bench. We’re just a little bit, not feeling sorry for ourselves, that’s not the right word, but we didn’t seem like we had the same energy throughout us today.
“Taking that aside, Bristol City were really good, defended really well, made it really difficult for us, pressed our backline and deserved their win.”