Wed 10 Dec - Posted in Breaking News
Time to read: 4mins
Head Coach John Eustace was delighted with the never-say-die attitude shown by his Derby County side, describing the Rams’ battling point in their 1-1 draw against Millwall as ‘an amazing effort’.
The Rams’ boss took heart from the character displayed by his team, who responded to the setback of falling behind in the final ten minutes by earning a late equaliser to draw 1-1 at Pride Park Stadium.
After going a goal down to a Matt Clarke own goal - despite being in the ascendancy for much of the second 45 minutes - Derby piled on the pressure to force a leveller via a Jake Cooper own goal, as the Millwall skipper turned a Joe Ward corner into his own net.
Substitute Rhian Brewster almost won the contest in the dying embers on his return from injury, but Eustace’s side were forced to settle for a point against the side occupying third place in the Sky Bet Championship table.
After the full-time whistle, Eustace spoke to RamsTV, with the 46-year-old starting by praising the battling qualities of his team.
I thought it was an amazing effort; it was always going to be a really difficult game tonight and lots of physicality had to be shown. You look at our midfield three - Andy Weimann, Bobby Clark and Liam Thompson - I thought they were outstanding the way they competed.
I thought the back five defended the set pieces really well. We showed that we can roll our sleeves up and mix it with a difficult team. I was comfortable in the second half; we had some really good moments. I thought we were going to go on and win the game.
There was some great character to come back from 1-0 down with 10 minutes to go. I thought the subs made a fantastic impact and that's what we're all about. We keep going to the end.
We did a lot of work on Monday as a group. The lads sat down and we went through a few things, and what a perfect response. The way we battled and fought was very pleasing.
When a goal like that goes against you, things can go flat, but we didn't feel sorry for ourselves. We rolled our sleeves up and kept going. We could even have nicked it in the end.
You have to earn the right to play. For the first half, it was very cagey for both teams. I don't know if either goalkeeper had much to do. We each had a couple of half chances, but we kept fighting. It was never going to be a pretty game.
In the second half, it opened up more. We knew we could get on the ball a little bit more. We had some really good opportunities, which we just couldn't take.
The most pleasing thing was the reaction when we went 1-0 down, especially after two defeats in a row. I couldn't be any prouder of the effort of the group. The fans got right behind us as well; they were certainly our 12th man.
That's all I ask for, that level of commitment and to be competitive. The lads train very hard every day. No matter who they are, they come in and they're ready to perform.
That's what you need in the Championship, because there are going to be some difficult times. They’ll be injuries, suspensions and we need the next man to step up. Today, the attitude was excellent.
He's a top player. If we can keep him fit - and we've got to look after him properly - we've got true quality. We saw glimpses tonight already. We've got to get him right, and hopefully he can step up to be the man for us.
Rams shot-stopper Jacob Widell Zetterström also caught up with RamsTV after the game, praising the mental fortitude of his team-mates.
In the end, [we’re] very pleased. The way that the lads out there kept pushing despite conceding with just ten minutes to go shows how strong we are mentally and what we are able to do. Of course, you want all three points but the way we kept going was incredible.
We were all very disappointed after Saturday. There are always going to be tough moments during games, during a season, but that’s where you have to show how strong you are. We did that today.
Sometimes that’s the way it is. You can make 10 saves and go away with a clean sheet, sometimes it’s a deflected cross and that’s all it is. That’s the life of a goalkeeper, of any footballer, really. That’s where you have to step forward as a team to show good you are as a group.
It was very important to get that point and not come away with a loss, especially after the Leicester game. There are plenty of games during this festive period, which we’re looking forward to a lot. It’s important to come away with something, as we did tonight.
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