Derby County Head Coach Paul Warne believes his side simply 'didn't do enough to win the game' in their 1-0 defeat at Reading in Sky Bet League One on Tuesday.
A second half goal from Paul Mukairu sealed all three points for the hosts and ensured the Rams lost on the road for the first time since October.
Speaking to RamsTV after the match, Warne gave his verdict on the defeat at the Select Car Leasing Stadium.
On his thoughts on the performance...
We didn't do enough to win the game, simply. We weren't aggressive enough, didn't win enough second balls and sometimes you lose matches because the simple basics aren't good enough. The best players do the basics well all the time and I don't think we did that tonight. I'm not too sure we deserved to lose, maybe a draw was a fair result, but we didn't really create enough chances. We knew we had to move the ball quickly and I don't think we did that enough tonight.
On not doing the basics right...
I've kept with the same core group for a lot of games and I didn't make many changes tonight, I just brought Tommo in, who was energetic and good. I don't want to be too knee-jerky about it, I'll watch it back and try and be as objective as I can and try and pick the team that can compete on Saturday because it will be another tough game against Cheltenham on Saturday. If you don't match the intensity of the opposition, you don't give yourself a chance to win a game.
On not being "knee-jerky" about the result...
We are disappointed and I know other clubs will be watching that result tonight thinking 'get in'. I would be the same the other way around. It's disappointing and I can't pretend I'm not spewing, but the dressing room has good lads in there, they want to win and get promoted. We are all in it together. There's no point having a hissy. I'll talk through what I thought went well and what we lacked and we'll watch it back together to make my point.
On Tyreece John-Jules' injury...
It's bordering on heart-breaking. He's had four or five clubs in his career and nobody has been able to keep him fit for long. He's been plagued with injuries. He's done loads of work, we've been monitoring him and I've done loads of interviews saying we've been managing him. To damage is hamstring is absolutely heart-breaking for him. I sincerely thank everyone that clapped him when he came off, because he's one broken soul. He's a great kid who does everything he can, he's just plagued with this problem that everyone has been working so hard to be helping him with. It's a massive blow for him, the team and the dressing room but we'll all be there for him and will help him get back healthy.
On responding to the defeat on Saturday against Cheltenham...
I'm disappointed tonight because we could have gone top with a win and you don't get many opportunities to go top of your league. We picked an aggressive team, but unfortunately we weren't good enough. Reading managed the game quite well and the simple fact is we just weren't good enough. They were just a bit younger, fresher and fitter and more on the front-foot, which we don't say often about our side.
