Post-Match Verdict: James Collins Vs Plymouth Argyle (H)

James Collins was in a bittersweet mood following Derby County’s 3-2 defeat to Plymouth Argyle at Pride Park Stadium in Sky Bet League One.

The striker opened his account for the Rams midway through a first half that ended with the home side comfortably ahead, after Nathaniel Mendez-Laing added to the Republic of Ireland international’s strike.

But the tide changed after the break and Plymouth turned the game on its head thanks to a goal from Morgan Whittaker, who came through Derby’s esteemed Academy, and a brace from substitute Sam Cosgrove.

That dealt the Rams their first home reverse of the campaign and brought an end to their seven-match unbeaten run in all competitions.

The result was in stark contrast to the events seven days previous, when Derby mounted a late comeback to beat Peterborough 2-1 at Pride Park Stadium.

Though disappointed by the game’s outcome, Collins was pleased to score his first Derby goal since his summer move from Cardiff, as he explained to RamsTV after the final whistle.

On His Goal…

I felt so relieved. It’s been a long time coming and I’ve had numerous chances to get off the mark and for whatever reason it’s not quite happened. As a striker, sometimes that happens to you and you just have to get through it and keep getting in the right areas. Thankfully David McGoldrick put it on a plate for me today. On a personal note, I’m delighted to get off the mark and I want to kick on now but it feels like it doesn’t really mean much after losing. I’d rather have the three points but that’s life.

On The Result…

It’s deflating. There’s real disappointment throughout because from start to finish we weren’t at our best today. Fair play to Plymouth; they came here and were better than us. We’ve got to swallow it and make sure we’re ready to go next week.

On Leading At Half-Time…

We had chances in the first half but going in at 2-0 probably did flatter us. I wouldn’t say I was surprised because our opportunities were better than theirs, but I think that’s what cost us: at 2-0 up we probably thought we’d be safe. But fair play to Plymouth, they were better than us in the second half and managed to nick the win.

On The Mood In The Dressing Room…

Losing life that is never nice, it’s horrible. We weren’t great as a team today, but when you’re 2-0 up – even not playing well – you still back yourself to see out the game and get a win. You’re not going to play well every week and the top sides, those that generally get promoted, are the ones that still see it out when not playing well. Unfortunately for us, we couldn’t quite do that.

On The Contrast To Last Week…

Last week we were like Plymouth in their dressing room: jumping around, giving high fives and having the music blaring. Those are the ups and downs of football. It was a great win last week but this time we were 2-0 up and now have that sickening feeling. We’ve got to dust ourselves down and we’ve got a week to prepare. It’s probably a good thing that we don’t have a match on Tuesday, so we can let things settle and then we have two tough away games.