Manager Frank Lampard could not fault the effort of his players this afternoon despite drawing 1-1 with Queens Park Rangers.
Jack Marriott netted his first league goal for the club in the first half, however, a controversial free kick was awarded to QPR in the first five minutes into the second half.
From that short set piece, the ball was crossed to Geoff Cameron who guided into the bottom corner to equalise.
The Rams pressed and went close to a winner but were met by a stubborn R’s defence and Lampard was left frustrated with the referee’s decision but could not fault his players.
“We should have won and deserved to win in terms of our play and the effort we put into the game,” Lampard told RamsTV. “We didn’t win because a) maybe we didn’t score more goals but a decision went against us.
“It was not a free kick, it was one of the cleanest tackles I’ve seen all season from Tomori. It was given as a foul and they scored from the free kick. Those things take games away from you.
“I can take from my point of view losing a game if we are not playing well enough or circumstance but the games you play well in can be lost by circumstances. It was clear and obvious and the whole stadium was very sure today that we should have won the game.
“I can’t be disappointed today. The lads were brilliant. We were still trying to score at the end of the game, we were counter attacking so there is not much more to say on that.”
Marriott, signed in the summer from Peterborough Untied, netted his first league goal on his first league start for the club and Lampard praised his performance.
“He was fantastic,” he said. “Jack’s all round game was great. He deserved to start, he’s worked hard, he missed pre-season as did Martyn Waghorn, Scott Malone and others, so we have got them up to a good level and Jack was great.
“He showed his all-round game. I don’t want him bracketed as a goal poacher because there is more to Jack. He can link, run and play inside and outside the box. That finish was top class.”
There is now a two-week break ahead of Rams’ next game and asked about his plans for the players who are not going away on international duty, Lampard replied: “Some rest and a lot of hard work.”
