Captain Curtis Davies was left upset and annoyed following Derby County’s 2-0 defeat at Lincoln City on Tuesday night.
A goal in each half from Jack Diamond and Ben House were enough for the Imps to claim all three points at the LNER Stadium, where tributes were paid to Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II throughout the evening.
Derby had the ball in the net twice on what proved to be a frustrating night, but both James Collins and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing turned to see the assistant referee’s flag raised before they could wheel away in celebration.
The second of those came within a minute of Lincoln doubling their advantage, and from them on in the Rams were left with too much to do.
It meant the occasion of Derby’s 5,000th league match would not be marked with a win,even with their returning skipper back in the side.
Davies had missed five league matches prior to the trip to Lincoln with a quadricep injury picked up in training last month but, barring a few bumps and bruises, he came through 90 minutes unscathed, as he explained when he joined RamsTV to offer his verdict after the final whistle.
On The Game Against Lincoln…
I’d like to say it’s frustrating but it’s more annoying to be honest. It’s upsetting in the fact that they’re a decent footballing team, but the game was pretty much won on second balls, going the extra yard and tracking back. They went 1-0 up early on, which allowed them to defend a lead, and we’ve got to accept that - but it’s a case of becoming more stretched the longer we go without getting that goal back. In the second half, we wanted a reaction and tried to get up against them and in their faces, but I felt that sometimes we’d go forwards and the tracking back wasn’t as clear to see. I don’t mind going into that mode in the last 10-15 minutes, but it’s a long half to be allowing second balls to be falling to their midfielders, so it became frustrating. Ultimately, as bad as we were, Lincoln played well and deserved their win.
On The Pivotal Minute In The Second Half…
It’s a reaction, it’s accepting disappointment and going again. It was a sucker punch after you think you’re back on level terms because you have the adrenaline of thinking that you’ve scored but then you see the flag go up, which is frustrating, but you have to carry on Their forward was fortunate in the way the ball fell to him and he was able to get the shot away, but that’s what happens when you get yourself in the right positions and he worked hard to do that. We’re more disappointed with the way we handled our game: our second balls and the nasty bits of the game. We have to be disappointed with what we did. The football wasn’t bad but we need to create more chances with the amount of ball we have because teams can play forward when they have players that are quick and strong who can pick up the second balls. It’s another lesson learned for us and unfortunately we’re having too many at the moment. It’s time to start giving other people lessons about what we do.
On His Return To The Side…
I’m feeling fine. Your body feels a lot better when you win a game if I’m honest, but I’ve come through unscathed. I’ve got a few bumps and bruises; but I’ll be ready to help the team on Saturday.
On Saturday’s Pride Park Meeting With Wycombe…
There have been two different manners of defeat in recent weeks and we have to go again. Games in the EFL come thick and fast and Wycombe won’t give us an easy time. They will be direct and battling for second balls will be important again, so let’s see if we can do better on Saturday.
