3/1 To Win
Wayne Rooney could not hide his disappointment after seeing Derby County fall to a 3-0 defeat at Preston North End on Tuesday night in the Sky Bet Championship.
Derby fell behind after 18 minutes at Deepdale as Ben Whiteman headed in a cross from a right-wing.
Rooney’s side pushed to find a way back into the game and Tom Lawrence had a goal ruled out for offside before the break.
Derby applied pressure after the interval in their quest to equalise and substitute George Edmundson had a shot pushed over the bar by Preston goalkeeper Daniel Iversen.
Ched Evans’ close-range finish doubled the hosts’ advantage after 73 minutes, before Ryan Ledson's low free-kick into the box drifted in at the far post late on to condemn the Rams to a heavy defeat in Lancashire.
The result leaves Derby four points clear of the bottom three with three of their own fixtures remaining, although Rotherham United, who occupy 22nd spot, have six games left to play.
Speaking to RamsTV after the final whistle, Rooney said: “It’s not what we wanted at all.
“We started the game brightly and after that it was the story of the season.
“We conceded the first goal and it was again from our own making, it was a sloppy goal to concede. Then we were chasing the game and we need to be cleverer about how we chase games. With a 3-0 defeat, it is a bad night.”
Rooney added: “We have to pick ourselves up, we are obviously in a very difficult position and we are relying on other teams losing games. We have to just carry on doing our jobs and try to win the next game.”
Derby return to action on Saturday afternoon at Pride Park Stadium when they take on Birmingham City in their penultimate home fixture of the campaign (3pm kick-off).
Rooney has stressed that the Rams’ players need to maintain their belief that they can get the points required to remain in the Championship.
“Saturday is a massive game, but so was tonight,” Rooney said.
“It is again another big game. I think for the players they must still believe that we can stay in this division.
“For us as staff, we have to keep pushing the players and try to get more out of them and we have to go into the game on Saturday hoping and believing that we can get the three points.
“If we want to give ourselves a chance of staying in this division, then we have to win. I felt tonight was a must-win game that would have led us into Saturday, but we have to win and hope that other teams lose.”
