REACTION: Eustace And Adams React To Leicester Defeat

Head Coach John Eustace admitted he was ‘very disappointed’ after Derby County suffered a 2-1 defeat to Leicester City at King Power Stadium to conclude 2025.

Eustace bemoaned two ‘sloppy’ goals conceded by his side but was pleased with the overall application and also the quality of Rhian Brewster’s first-half equaliser.

Brewster turned home Callum Elder’s cross either side of goals from Bobby De Cordova-Reid and Jordan James, as Derby suffered their first Sky Bet Championship defeat since the reverse fixture at Pride Park Stadium five games ago.

After the game, Eustace gave his immediate reaction to RamsTV.

On Being Edged Out By The Foxes:

We’re very disappointed to lose the game. I thought the effort and commitment the boys put in was there for everyone to see. The two goals we conceded were really sloppy. There was a lack of concentration on both goals.

I thought Liam Thompson had an excellent game - apart from the mistake for the second goal. We didn't track the runner for the first goal, but we scored a fantastic one ourselves.

I was really pleased with our all-round play. It was just in that final third, we lacked that bit of quality and belief that we were going to score again.

On Needing To Show More Belief:

We've shown throughout the season that we've got no one to fear. We've got nothing to worry about. The boys are playing well.

They're fully committed, they're competitive, and they just need to take the shackles off and be 'the man' in that final third. It doesn't matter who they are.

I thought the delivery from Callum Elder today was top draw. We're putting the ball right in the middle of that six-yard box and we need players to bust their gut to make sure they put their head on it.

We're a work in progress and we are progressing throughout the season. Coming here tonight, I expected to win and the group expected to win. We've just got to keep believing in that we're a good team and keep going.

On Showing A Positive Reaction To Going Behind:

We scored a brilliant goal. It was great build-up, great play. After the reverse fixture, we had a couple of real big meetings about not feeling sorry for ourselves and reacting.

In the last five games, we've certainly done that when we've gone a goal down or we've conceded. The character of the group is fantastic, and everyone's just disappointed that we couldn't capitalise on our possession in the second half.

There's still a lot of hard work ahead, but the commitment was there and that's what was most pleasing.

On Finding An Extra Gear:

The desire is there week in, week out. You can see that the effort is there from all the boys. We just need to show that quality now and believe in ourselves when we get those opportunities to go and score two or three goals.

When teams are feeling us and they know that we're a good team, they can now take it to that next level and score the two or three to take games away from the teams.

At the moment, we're just not doing that. We've been competitive, we've been in all the games, but we want to see that level of consistency now of where we can win and win well.

Vice-captain Ebou Adams shared his Head Coach’s frustration at tasting defeat across the East Midlands. After full-time, he also caught up with RamsTV.

On A Frustrating Evening:

It was a frustrating one because I felt in the second half we would control the game in terms of limiting chances and we would create chances to score goals.

I thought we didn’t show quite enough to put the ball in the back of the net and that's where we need to learn from. We're a good team; we just have to show that belief.

On Scoring A Well-Worked Goal:

It was a very good goal. Liam Thompson did well to win the ball back and it was a great cross from Cal [Callum Elder] for Rhian to score. It shows that we can do it and if we can carry on creating chances like that, it's up to us to put the ball in the back of the net.

Sometimes, it can be scruffy. I'll take a scruffy goal as long as it gives us a better opportunity to get the three points, that's what matters.

On A Game Of Fine Margins:

There are loads of tight moments, like getting on the end of a cross, putting a quality ball in when we’re in the final third or locking them out. I thought we did that; it's just producing another moment to score that goal.

It hurts when you lose like that, but we have to keep believing and keep going. We've got a game in a few days and we want to show what we can do.