‘It Says A Lot That We Are Leaving Disappointed’

Pat Lyons felt Derby County Under-23s’ ‘superb’ performance deserved more after they were forced to settle for a point from a six-goal thriller with Arsenal at Meadow Park on Friday evening.

Charles Vernam, Mason Bennett and Alex Babos all got on the scoresheet for the Rams, but it was their defensive performance that really caught the eye.

For large periods of the Premier League 2 Division 1 meeting at Boreham Wood, Darren Wassall’s side had to cope with Arsenal’s domination of possession and for 80 minutes, it looked like they had done that, before two late goals – the third coming deep into stoppage time – earned the Gunners a share of the spoils.

Lyons, Derby’s senior professional development phase coach, says the fact that the squad left the game disappointed with a draw with Arsenal says everything you need to know.

“We’re disappointed to concede two late goals because I thought we were superb,” Lyons said.

“We had to defend for long periods of the game, but I thought we did really well on the counter attack.

“We could have had a few more goals too – at 3-1 we were excellent, and Luke Thomas had a good chance to make it four – but ultimately we should have done enough to see out the game.

“It says a lot that we are leaving here disappointed that we have a 3-3 draw.”

He added: “They are one of the top clubs in the world, so you know you are always going to be up against it and we knew we were going to be without the ball for long periods.

“That said, we showed great character and resilience for most of the game when it came to defending our box.

“They only had three or four shots over the whole game so in that regard, we were really pleased. The players were so disappointed in that dressing room because they had given so much and looked like they had done enough.

“Now we have to pick ourselves up because there were a lot of positives and we need to get ready for Tuesday.”

Interview: Jonty Colman