3/1 To Win
Darren Wassall heaped praise on his Derby County Under-23 side for their ‘magnificent performance’ after they impressively picked up their first Premier League 2 – Division 1 victory of the season against Sunderland on Friday evening.
Under the floodlights of Pride Park Stadium, George Thorne’s 31st minute strike put the Under-23s ahead - before second half substitute Offrande Zanzala struck in added time to confirm the win.
Wassall believes that his side could have won by a bigger margin after they created a number of opportunities but, overall, he was thrilled with the performance.
Offering his thoughts after the full-time whistle, Wassall told RamsTV: “It was a very good performance and we were dominant in every area from start to finish.
“It was a magnificent performance with high tempo and quality attacking football. Everyone performed on the night – from back to front - and the substitutes that came on showed how important they are as well.
“If I am being picky, we didn’t get the goals that our play deserved and the chances that we created deserved. We could have been more comfortable and won by three or four goals tonight.”
He added: “It is always nice to get a clean sheet on top of a win and it was a thoroughly deserved one as well.
“We had two tough games against Arsenal and Chelsea and did enough in both to get something from them, so the message to our players before tonight’s game was not to worry.
“It was important to get the three points on the board and it will give everyone confidence moving forward.”
As well as marking the Rams’ first victory of the campaign, it also marked the Under-23s’ first outing of the season at Pride Park Stadium.
And looking to continuing their fine form at the club’s home stadium from last season, the result against Sunderland was a great way to start.
Wassall added: “Playing at Pride Park Stadium is a great experience and we had some first-team players out there in George Thorne and Craig Forsyth who not only showed an excellent attitude, but produced very good performances too.
“It was great for them and we also had Mason Bennett, who has been with the first-team this season. He was excellent in the lone centre forward role and was as good any anybody out there.
“He was unlucky not to score, he deserved a goal, and he will get more and more confidence.”
Wassall offered some positive words for wideman Kellan Gordon, who this week became the club’s latest Academy player to make his professional debut, as a substitute, against Grimsby Town in the Carabao Cup.
Gordon played the full 90 minutes against the Black Cats and it was certainly a case of business as usual, despite his milestone earlier in the week.
Wassall explained: “Kellan Gordon, who made his debut in the week at Grimsby, also did well.
“With all the hullabaloo that comes with all of that, you need to come back to the Under-23s and play well and he did that in terms of attitude, application and his quality.
“He is on a high and he is the right sort to stay grounded. He showed in his performance tonight that he is one for the future.”
