Justin Walker was full of praise for the character shown by his Under-18s during their 2-2 draw with Newcastle United.
The Rams were behind by two goals at the Newcastle United Academy, with goals either side of half time coming from Elias Sorensen and Thomas Allen. Second half strikes by Jason Knight and an own goal from Max Allen put the two sides level.
The professional development phase coach told dcfc.co.uk that his side showed strong character after a disappointing first half.
“We are delighted with the character of the group”, said Walker.
“I thought in the first half we were not our usual self. We lacked a little bit of energy and it was a bit of a scrappy game.
“We had a chat at half time and everyone was nice and composed, but we were disappointed with the way that we played.
“Knowing the group as we do, there is a lot of character in there and we knew there’d be some form of response. The lads stuck to the task and got themselves back into the game.
“We know that performance levels over the last couple of weeks have not been as good as previous, but, what we have shown is that we don’t lie down and the lads deserve credit for that today.”
Derby went two goals behind with less than half of the match remaining, after Thomas Allan volleyed in Oliver Walters’ cross from close range.
The visitors clawed their first goal back just six minutes later and Walker felt that it was important to get back into the game as soon as possible.
He said: “It’s always important if you can get a goal.
“Goals change games don’t they and we went 2-0 down and again the lads weren’t despondent, and we kept going.
“We got ourselves a goal and that little bit of belief came back into the team. The onus was on us to break them down and sometimes you need a bit of luck and we got that with the second goal.”
Walker’s and Rory Delap’s side are next in action on Saturday 2nd December, where they will host Everton in the Premier League Cup, their first of three consecutive home matches
The Rams go into that match currently on an eight-game unbeaten run. Walker felt that their upcoming run of fixtures is a fantastic opportunity for the squad to learn about themselves.
“We have worked as hard as we can to ensure that the players get exposed at this level “, Walker added.
“We’ve got Everton, Manchester City and Manchester United in the next 3 games, so it’s an exciting time for the players and hopefully they rise to it.”
Words by Jonty Colman
