'We Need To Dust Ourselves Down And Stick Together'

Craig Bryson has urged Derby County to ‘dust themselves off and stick together’ following a 4-1 defeat to Leeds United on Saturday evening at Pride Park Stadium.

The Rams were outplayed by the Whites with an early goal by Mateusz Klich setting the tone.

However, the Rams’ midfielder says the team needs to take this opportunity to develop together and build on the chemistry.

The summer has seen nine new players welcomed at Pride Park under new manager Frank Lampard, with young and hungry players adding to the seasoned veterans on the team.

With that, Bryson feels it has taken slightly longer for the managers philosophies to be fully executed but understands in this league, the team has no time to waste.

The 31-year-old told RamsTV following the match: “It’s a lesson for us, we have a few young players on the team and a new manager bringing new ideas, so it will take a little bit of time.

“But in the Championship, you don’t get that time. The games come too quick and you have to learn on the pitch and you have to learn quick.

“We have got another tough game midweek, then we go to Millwall and everyone knows what it is like down there.

“So, we will have to dust ourselves down, we will stick together, go again and take it from there.”

Derby will look to learn from mistakes against Leeds when they take on Oldham Athletic in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night before resuming league play against Millwall on Saturday.

Bryson admitted that the Rams were unable to play out Lampard’s plan on the pitch despite a stunning free-kick from Tom Lawrence that curved past Bailey Peacock-White to even the score.

A brace from Kemar Roofe and the final blow from Ezgjan Alioski condemned the Rams to defeat in their first home game of the new season.

“There’s no excuses, they were the better team,” Bryson said.

“They were a bit sharper, a bit brighter than us in all departments. I don’t think we carried out the plan the way the gaffer wanted us to.

“The early goal unsettled us a little. I think we were trying to press them but we didn’t really go as a team and they were finding the pockets of space.

“That first 15 to 20 minutes they were causing us a lot of problems, then we got back into the game with a great free-kick from Tom. But the four goals we did concede tonight were really sloppy on our part.”