POST-MATCH INTERVIEW: Eustace Gives His Reaction After Ipswich Draw

Head Coach John Eustace says his Derby County side are taking ‘good steps forward’ after they took a point away from Ipswich Town on Saturday afternoon.

The Sky Bet Championship spoils were shared in Suffolk after a late penalty for the hosts levelled things at 2-2 after Derby had completed a comeback through second half goals by Carlton Morris and Rhian Brewster.

Eustace handed full debuts to midfielder Lewis Travis and wing-back Max Johnston, who became the Rams' 11th and 12th signings of the summer on Wednesday.

The Derby boss made clear his belief that the squad is progressing into the 2025/26 Sky Bet Championship season and can take away and build on the positives on display in their showing at Portman Road.

Eustace spoke to RamsTV following the clash with the Tractor Boys, with Derby heading into the international break with two draws and two losses to their name in the league so far.

On drawing 2-2 against Ipswich...

I thought we started the game really well. We were excellent in the first half; we really took the game to Ipswich. We conceded a really sloppy goal from a set-piece, which isn't like us at all. For the last 10/15 minutes of the half, we were under a lot of pressure and it took us a little bit of time to regroup, which we did at the break.

We came out in the second half and we were excellent again. We scored two well-worked goals, limited Ipswich to next to nothing and always looked to threaten on the transition. When you see 13-14 minutes come up at the end of the game, it's crazy. The group battled, they worked their socks off, and I couldn't ask any more from them.

On Carlton Morris and Rhian Brewster's goals...

That goalscoring ability is why we're bringing in top players - for those moments. When you're playing in the Championship, moments are key and if you've got good players who can finish, then that's what it's all about. We're very lucky that we've got Rhian, Carlton and Bobby Clark.

I thought the back five were excellent today, too. Max Johnston made his first Championship start against some top performers out there, which was impressive. I thought he was great. Lewis Travis coming in, considering he hasn't played for three weeks, did well for for 70 to 80 minutes. There are loads of positives to take out of the game.

On gaining extra fitness in the international break...

The longer the players are on the grass, the better. We've got a few going away for international break, which is a shame, because we could have done some good work on the training field with them.

We've got players coming back from injury like Lars-Jørgen Salvesen - it was great to have him back on the bench and was a massive plus for us today. Patrick Agyemang is also in full training now, so we've got some really good options coming back. It's just important that we keep building, keep growing. You can see that the group's getting better. We're growing and that's what it's all about.