Byrne Frustrated With Stoke City Defeat

Defender Nathan Byrne was left visibly frustrated following Derby County’s 1-0 defeat against Stoke City at the bet365 Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Potters forward Jacob Brown scored the only goal of the game in the 74th minute of the game to ensure the Rams fell to defeat.

It proved to be one of their only efforts on goal across the 90 minutes, with Derby going close either side of the half time interval in a game of few chances.

Colin Kazim-Richards fired wide before the break from distance, whilst Louie Sibley narrowly shot wide from 18 yards as the Rams looked to make the breakthrough.

However, that didn’t come and Stoke capitalised with Brown converting at the back post to claim all three points and mean Wayne Rooney's side are now five points clear of the division's bottom three.

Byrne, who spoke to RamsTV after the match, gave an honest assessment of the Rams' performance.

“It is not good enough,” he admitted. “We knew before the game that it would be a battle and we are now in a relegation battle.

"There weren’t many chances in the game, but we have come out again losing and it isn’t good enough. We knew the type of game it was going to be.

“We weren’t good enough on the ball, we didn’t keep it well enough. We let Stoke put balls in the box and they are a threat; that’s where their goals come from.

“I think we have got to look at ourselves. First and foremost, we weren’t good enough for the 90 minutes to deserve a draw or win, to be honest. Although we stopped Stoke creating any chances, we didn’t really create anything. We have got to look at ourselves, we have two weeks before the next game now.

“In the Championship you have to be on it. You don’t get any free hits and every game is massive whether you are down at the bottom or at the top of the league. It is an equal playing field, more than any other division, so we have to be at it for every single match.”

The Rams now have a two-week break before the next fixture, which comes against Luton Town at Pride Park Stadium due to the international break on Easter Friday.

Whilst some players will go away with their countries, the break allows Derby an extended period of time to work on the training ground to ensure they are in the best shape possible for the visit of the Hatters.

“All the games are all must win now,” Byrne said. “There are a lot of teams down there in and around it and we have to push on. We have got to get results, that is the bottom line.”