Eiran Cashin was quick to stress Derby County’s players were ‘disappointed, but not downhearted’ following their 2-1 loss at Barnsley in Sky Bet League One on Saturday.
Despite taking the lead through defender Sonny Bradley in the first half at Oakwell, Derby’s top six rivals hit back to claim all three points with Adam Phillips scoring in either half.
There proved to be little between the sides in the end in a tense clash between two of the division’s top four and Phillips’ header midway through the second half from a corner settled matters.
Paul Warne’s side remain in second spot in the table following results elsewhere to leave the promotion race wide open with just over two months of the season remaining.
Defender Cashin spoke to RamsTV after the final whistle to review the game and preview the upcoming back-to-back home matches against Charlton Athletic and Port Vale at Pride Park Stadium…
On the game itself…
We’re disappointed. In the first half, we could have done a bit more with the ball. They got in our faces early on and, as a team, we need to show more composure on the ball and I include myself in that. Defensively, we were quite solid. Their goal was a great strike from distance to equalise. To lose the match to their goal in the second half, from a set play, is frustrating. We are normally good at those. We did get the ball down more and play in the second half. We got the ball wide and created some chances, notably late on as we chased a goal. When we play with a real purpose, we can cause teams problems.
On the importance of set pieces…
To lose to a set play hurts. We defend them well, normally. We looked dangerous from our set plays toady and could have got more goals than the one we did score through Sonny. We had quite a few late on as we pushed to equalise. We were a big threat every time and looked dangerous. That’s something positive to take from today.
Looking ahead to two home games against Charlton and Port Vale…
We’ve got two games at home this week now and they’re coming up quickly. We’d love to get two wins and get back to picking up points as soon as we can. We’re happy to be playing again so fast. We’re disappointed today, but we’re not too down. We’ve got 12 matches left to play and we need to dust ourselves off and make sure we’re ready to go again.
On the 5,000 travelling Rams in the away end…
It was an amazing following, and they never gave up. They kept going as much as we did. They showed the support at the end of the game as well. I would like to thank everyone that turned out and got behind us.
