Sat 09 Aug - Posted in Breaking News
Time to read: 3mins
Head Coach John Eustace preached the importance of remaining level-headed after two late goals consigned Derby County to a 3-1 defeat at Stoke City on the opening day of the 2025/26 campaign.
The first half ended goalless in the Potteries, with the hosts holding the majority of control over the possession and the Rams remaining defensively stubborn.
Carlton Morris gave Derby a goal advantage when he scored his first in Derby colours on the hour, but an impressive strike from Stoke midfielder Lewis Baker levelled things ten minutes later.
Two late goals for the hosts by Divin Mubama and Sorba Thomas deep into added time turned the game around and meant defeat on the road in the Sky Bet Championship for the Rams.
Eustace spoke to RamsTV after the season-opening match in Stoke.
On the result…I thought a point would have been a fair result in the end. Obviously, we are very disappointed to concede in the way we did in the last two minutes of the game. I was pleased with the attitude of the boys. They kept to the game plan, and we limited Stoke to very few chances. They had a lot of the ball but I thought overall, the lads' attitude was very good. I'm disappointed not to see the game through.
We knew it would be a fast start from Stoke. I was pleased with the effort of the group, the way they stuck together through those moments and got us up. We need to be much better when we win the ball back. Our transitions weren't very good today, which was disappointing, and that's something we've got to keep working on. When you look at the side that started there, every one of them put a big shift in and we should have come away with at least a point.
Corey Blackett-Taylor was quiet today - but then that one bit of magic from him set the goal up. It was a fantastic finish. Obviously, we were delighted with that, but the most disappointing thing today is that we didn't see the game out.
That started last year - in difficult moments, it's about making this Derby County family one. There's going to be some difficult times, some really exciting times as well. It's important we don't get too disappointed with today's result.
There is a lot of work in progress. I said that a few days ago. The squad's going to grow. We've got seven or eight top players to come in and help the group. We're disappointed to lose the game, but we're not too down about it.
There are a lot of good things; look at the people coming back to fitness, look at how this group's going to learn and grow from today's experience as well. We'll brush ourselves down. We've got a game coming up on Tuesday at West Bromwich Albion in the Carabao Cup where we can give really good minutes to players who need it. We keep going.
