REACTION: Eustace and Ozoh Give Norwich Verdict

John Eustace said his Derby County side will ‘dust themselves down and go again’ with two matches of the 2025/26 season remaining, after his side suffered a 2-1 defeat against Norwich City on Tuesday night.

David Ozoh’s 54th-minute goal against the Canaries cancelled out Mohamed Touré’s earlier strike at Carrow Road, but the in-form hosts responded quickly to regain their lead and take all three Sky Bet Championship points.

The Head Coach spoke with RamsTV to reflect on a disappointing result in Norfolk.

On Battling but Coming Second Best Against Norwich

I was happy with the effort of the group. I thought we battled well; we worked hard. Our attitude was fantastic.

On another day, in the second half, we could have scored a couple of goals. But in the first half, we won the ball back on a number of occasions and gave the ball straight back to them, which wasn't what we want and what we expect. That was disappointing, but I thought we were very brave to keep going (with that approach) in the second half.

Decision-making was a lot better, and we created a number of chances. The effort of the group tonight was top draw, and again, we'd just come out short.

On Needing to Be Effective at Both Ends

Goals change games, and the two goals that they scored, we need to defend better. The communication for the first one to allow the lad to get free was really disappointing.

The second goal, obviously, we showed the boy inside the pitch, and we didn't get across to block the shot. Both goals could have been stopped. It's something that we have to improve on, especially going into next year. We've got two huge games coming up, and we've got to improve now in the next two games as well to make sure we start getting clean sheets and to stop conceding sloppy goals.

On Fighting Beyond Injury Setbacks

We keep going, and I thought the players' attitudes tonight were different class. You look at the goals that they scored, which could have been stopped - so that makes no difference if you've got a small squad, a weak squad, a strong squad.

On the End-of-Season Table Shake-up

We're not worried about that. We're just worried about ourselves and the opportunity now to get three points on Saturday. We dust ourselves down, and we go again.

David Ozoh also caught up with RamsTV after the game.

On Getting a Goal in the Contest but Coming out on the Wrong Side of the Result

It's a bittersweet moment. It's good to get a goal, but at the end of the day, I just care about the result. We're disappointed, and we feel like we missed an opportunity.

It could have easily been a win for us. We just need to cut out the sloppy goals, especially against top opposition; we're going to get punished.

On a Fiery Match-up

It's the business end of the season. Every game is going to be like this. We're all fighting for our lives. It's a game that could have put us in a great position to change our lives and bring the club back to where it belongs. It's going to be that type of game, and we've expected it. I thought we fought hard, but we just came out on the wrong end.

On Coming Back into the Game but Falling Behind Soon After

It's frustrating because when we had them at 1-1, we thought we could have scored the second, and you could see on the pitch that we had the momentum.

We just need to be better at keeping that momentum and not allowing them to come back with sloppy goals. We're still learning, and we're growing.

The team has come so far - we'll just keep on fighting. We're disappointed, but we've got to keep our heads up. We're all leaders in the changing room, and we know that this is the Championship. It's not over, and we'll fight until the end.