Wayne Rooney was once again delighted with Derby County's never-say-die attitude as they stormed back from two goals behind to claim a 2-2 draw at home to Birmingham City on Sunday afternoon.
Derby looked on course for defeat in front of their own supporters for only the third time in the 2021/22 campaign, but two late goals saw them earn an unlikely point.
Rooney’s side fell behind inside the opening seven minutes as Birmingham’s Lyle Taylor marked his debut with a composed finish beyond Ryan Allsop, while a second goal followed for the visitors just before the half-hour mark as Scott Hogan found the back of the net.
Derby pushed for a way back into the game but were unable to break down the visitors’ strong backline until the final minutes.
Luke Plange scored a fine curling effort as the clock ticked down to reduce the deficit, to net his third goal of the campaign, before substitute Krystian Bielik scored a dramatic equaliser in added time.
While Rooney was thrilled with his side’s late comeback, he felt his side’s performance could have been much better.
Speaking to RamsTV after the game, Rooney said: “The performance wasn’t good enough and especially as we have to set high demands of ourselves.
“I spoke to the players at half time and I didn’t recognise that team in the first half. We got better in the second half, especially when Krystian Bielik came on we did a lot better.
“We were pushing and had chances which we could have scored from until we got the two late goals.
“Luke Plange was the best player on the pitch all afternoon and deserved his goal. He gave us a lifeline and we then got our equaliser through Krystian, which was fantastic.”
Rooney added: “We keep fighting, we keep pushing and I think we did deserve a point even though the performance wasn’t what I wanted. Even though it’s a point, this point could keep us in this division.”
Derby welcomed a sold-out crowd of just over 32,000 to Pride Park for the game, the largest crowd in the Championship this season so far.
In what has been a challenging period for the club off the field, the Rams’ supporters have responded by offering their unconditional backing.
Rooney paid tribute to the fans by saying: “For us - myself, the staff and players – their support means a lot.
“We could hear the crowd inside the dressing room before kick-off so we know we’ve got the support of the fans.
“We have to keep pushing, fighting and I have no worries that we won’t do that because it’s a good group of honest players who are fighting.”
A year to the day after sustaining a second serious long-term knee injury in as many seasons, midfielder Krystian Bielik returned to the matchday squad against the Blues.
The Poland international came off the bench with just over 20 minutes remaining to get important match minutes under his belt.
He injured his shoulder in the process of equalising and was clearly in some pain, but hopes the damage isn’t too bad.
The Derby boss said: “Krystian is in with the medical staff now and they are assessing him.
“Hopefully it’s not too serious but if it is, we will have to deal with that. We have done that all season, but hopefully it’s not because he’s a massive player for us.
“He was going to come at some point today and when we went 2-0 down I felt, as a team and as individuals, we weren’t good enough today and I felt it needed to change.
“I had to get him on the pitch whether it be from set pieces, his quality on the ball and trying to get him in the game, so it was a good decision in the end.”
Derby’s next Championship fixture will see them travel to the John Smith’s Stadium to face Huddersfield Town on Wednesday 2nd February (7:45pm kick-off).
