Frank Lampard was quick to admit that Derby County’s first half showing at Millwall this afternoon proved to be costly – but he was far more encouraged with his side’s second half display.
Lee Gregory opened the scoring early on for the hosts with a glancing header from a free-kick, before Shaun Williams’ deflected long-range strike doubled their lead inside the opening 20 minutes.
Derby forced their way back into the game after the interval and enjoyed long spells of pressure inside the Millwall half.
David Nugent came off the bench to reduce the deficit with a well-taken finish and, despite pushing for a leveller, the Lions kept the Rams at bay and held on to claim all three points.
Lampard felt Derby were too slow on the ball in the opening 45 minutes as the home side took control but, after speaking to his players at half-time, he felt they produced more of the football he wants to see in the second period.
He told RamsTV after the game at The Den: “We fought back in the second half but it just wasn’t quite enough in the end.
“You know what you’re going to get when you come to Millwall; they are effective and know what they want to do.
“Balls into the box can be a bit of a lottery but you have to find a way to deal with it. We didn’t for the first goal while the second goal was a freak in terms of taking a big deflection to fly into the net.
“We played into their hands by allowing them to sit in and defend deep and not being quick enough with the ball in the first half.
“We were much better at it in the second half which is why we created more chances. We spoke at half-time and from my perspective it was a much better and different display after that.”
He added: “It wasn’t so much tactical changes but the urgency and the way we approached it. We matched Millwall and then began to play but, unfortunately, it was too late.
“We had more about us and that’s how we have to approach every game. We just needed to stay in the game in the first half and, if we had done that, I believe we could have won it.”
Derby face back-to-back home games in the next week and Lampard has challenged his players to produce performances similar to the second half at The Den on home turf.
First up is a midweek clash with Ipswich Town on Tuesday evening, before Preston North End head to Pride Park Stadium next Saturday.
The Derby boss said: “It’s on us now to go and play like we did in the second half.
“With that energy and quality in our team, I know we’ll be alright. This is not a time to get down; it’s early season and it will take a bit of time in different ways.
“We want to be competitive so come Tuesday, and then Saturday, we will want to win those games.”
On-loan Liverpool wideman Harry Wilson missed the game with a groin injury while left-back Scott Malone was forced off at the break due to injury.
Offering an injury update, Lampard said: “Scott had a bit of a problem at half-time, a muscle injury, and hopefully it’s not too bad.
“We were also missing Harry Wilson with a small muscle injury, a problem with his groin, and hopefully he will be back soon.”
