POST-MATCH REACTION: Eustace and Elder reflect on Charlton draw

Head Coach John Eustace and left-back Callum Elder reflected on another ‘point in the right direction’ after Derby County's 1-1 draw with Charlton Athletic at Pride Park Stadium on Tuesday night.

James Bree’s well-taken strike in the first half gave the visitors the advantage before Matt Clarke’s excellent header in the 79th minute clinched a point for the Rams.

The point at home means the Rams have gone unbeaten in four of their last five Sky Bet Championship matches, with three draws and a win, and have tasted defeat once in their last six league outings.

Head Coach Eustace spoke to RamsTV after the match and reiterated the importance of being ruthless in the final third of the pitch.

On taking a point against Charlton…

I thought it was a difficult first half, though we did get into some really good areas, especially early on. In the final third again, decision-making was poor tonight, so it's something that we've got to keep improving on. We got in some good areas, and then we were disappointing in the manner we conceded.

When you go a goal down, especially at home, there's always a lot of pressure on you and quite rightly so. We weren't happy coming in at half-time and the fans weren't happy.

I thought the lads showed great character after half-time to change our style and play a lot more football throughout the second half.

When you're picking points up and not playing as well as you should be, it is pleasing (that you’re still getting points on the board). It means there is a lot of hard work ahead for sure, and that'll be coming.

Left-back Elder also gave his reflections to RamsTV following the contest, after returning to the starting line-up at Pride Park.

On taking steps in the right direction and needing to turn draws into wins...

We were looking to get the three points back at home in front of our fans and certainly to build on the point that we got on the weekend at Wrexham.

I thought we started the game well. We were in control, but a bit of sloppy play so us go behind. We came undone on one long ball, but we responded well, especially in the second half. I felt they were there for the taking in the second half. We had some good chances.

Their goalkeeper made some good saves and we kept pushing for the winner. I'm sure everyone can see that.

I think on another day, we get three points. It's another point that we can build on going into another home game at the weekend against Southampton. There is loads to improve on moving forward.

There's so much self-belief in this squad of players and the staff. We know what we're capable of. Consistently, we'll always push to the end.

It's certainly another point in the right direction, but it's something that we need to build on and make sure that the draw starts to become wins, especially at home.

Derby will be hoping to turn those draws into wins when they take on Southampton at Pride Park on Saturday ahead of the second international break of the season (3pm kick-off).