Liam Rosenior was understandably disappointed after seeing his Derby County side fall to a 2-0 loss at Lincoln City on Tuesday night - and he has challenged his players to rise to the challenge of bouncing back as quickly as possible.
An early Jack Diamond penalty was added to by Ben House after the break as the Rams' 5,000th league match ended in defeat at the LNER Stadium.
Derby had opportunities to get on the scoresheet, with James Collins and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing both having goals ruled out for offside, but they were unable to take their chances at key moments as the Imps collected all three points in the Sky Bet League One contest.
Rosenior caught up with RamsTV after the final whistle to offer his verdict on the 90 minutes from his perspective.
On The Result…
It was not the result we wanted. I am not happy with the result and the performance. We were way off our levels tonight. We had been consistent before our last two matches and we have to put it right really quickly. We must be more clinical when it matters. We are getting into really good areas but not taking advantage of them; even in a poor performance we created chances tonight. We have to score the first goal, especially away from home. We know if we can do that, it will make teams come out and play. At the moment, the opposition are taking advantage of our mistakes or sitting in and waiting for one.
On Not Scoring Enough Goals…
The players here have quality and I have faith in them. I understand when you go on a run of not scoring, you perhaps take that bit more care rather than be free in those moments to finish moves off. That is something we will look at. In terms of my belief in the players, it remains the same. We know there are going to be setbacks in the season and this, losing back-to-back matches, is one of them. We know we need to get down to work and be ready for a tough game against Wycombe at Pride Park on Saturday.
On The Goals Conceded…
We started well and then gave away the penalty. It was a soft one, in my view. Once they got that goal, they had something to hang on to. The rest of the half was us in possession, but I wanted us to be more positive and not be worried about taking risks. I want us to play - but play forward. The second goal was frustrating too. We had a chance moments before on the break and then they went down the other end and got that goal at a point when we were on top. Scoring goals is the key to the game. It doesn’t matter about the style of play in that sense, it’s about putting the ball in the net and it changes the whole flow of the match.
On Remaining Calm…
My job is not to get too carried away when we win and the also not too downbeat when we lose. I am open to criticism and I am aware of that because I am working for a huge club with big ambitions, but I am also aware it is a long process to get to where we want to be. We need to change this feeling now and I am really looking forward to a big game against Wycombe on Saturday.
On The Changing Room And Bouncing Back…
I have great characters here that care and right now the dressing room is down, as it should be when you lose a game. I have no doubts about the characters and temperament whatsoever and now it is a huge test for me and the players to come out fighting on Saturday. I am sure we will do that. We still have a great chance to enjoy a special season, but we must learn from these moments. We have players here that haven’t experienced League One before and tonight was a huge lesson for them; it isn’t always going to be the prettiest game of football. Every match is a learning process and it is important for us all to remain calm, remember the bigger picture and make sure we are moving in the right direction.
