Korey Smith feels Derby County’s reaction to losing their 15-match unbeaten run in Sky Bet League One will be crucial, stating ‘one loss can’t knock you off track’.
The Rams have the chance to bounce back instantly to their 3-2 defeat at Wycombe Wanderers at the weekend when they host Lincoln City at Pride Park Stadium on Tuesday evening (7:45pm kick-off).
As well as responding to their first league reverse since a visit to Ipswich Town’s Portman Road back in October, Derby will look to right the wrongs of their 2-0 September loss to Lincoln at Sincil Bank.
Paul Warne’s side will be buoyed by their recent form at home, where they’ve registered five consecutive league wins; scoring 15 goals in the process.
And that record in front of home support is one of the things Derby will look to draw on as they seek an immediate response, as Smith explained when he previewed the match with RamsTV…
On the weekend’s loss to Wycombe Wanderers…
We just conceded too many goals, and we’ve not done that in the league for a long time. If you score two goals away from home, you expect to get a result. There were a couple of deflections that fell their way and Wycombe is a tough place to go. This is football, you’re not going to win every game but we’ve been on an amazing run and still are. It’s just one loss and we want to continue to build on our good form so, with two home games to come, it’s straight onto the next one.
On recovering from the setback…
I don’t think anyone’s ever won every single game of a season and there’s a reason why Arsenal’s invincible side is recognised in history. Defeats happen and it’s just about how you react. The boss has told us that Wycombe have one of the best home records around and it was just a tough game and a tough place to go. Unfortunately, they got the better of us, but we’ve been really focused; you don’t have the kind of run we’ve had without being focused. We’ve got our goals and what we want to do in our mind, and one loss can’t knock you off track. There are a lot of games to go and we’ve got another one straight away to try and bounce back.
On his ongoing run at right back…
I’m enjoying it and continuing to learn and get used to certain things. I’m playing regular football and doing my best for the team. We didn’t sign a right back in January so, among others who can play there, I’ll look to be used there for the rest of the season and I’ll keep giving it my best. The boss and I had a little discussion in January and this is where we’re at. It’s nice to know he was struggling to find anyone better in the position so if he, the fans and my team-mates are happy, I’ll continue to give my best. We’ve been on an amazing run and I’m enjoying playing every week. I want to carry on doing that, and hopefully win every game and get this club promoted.
On the loss at Lincoln earlier in the campaign…
I was injured for that game so, on a personal level, I don’t have that one-on-one battle to look back on. It’s frustrating to lose and you don’t want to lose any match, so you do want to get your own back a little bit but you can’t make it personal; it’s a 11-a-side. It’s a completely different game in a different stadium and we’re at home, where we’ve got a really good record. We’ll go into this one with confidence.
On the side’s fine home form…
There are things that help us at home and we need to use them to our advantage. Our starter is our pitch - it’s very good for the level and suits our technical players. Some of the other pitches in the division can be a bit bobbly or don’t have much grass on them at this time of year. It helps us to have a nice pitch and to have the fans behind us as well. The supporters are massive and a lot of players aren’t used to playing in front of such big crowds, but we are.
