We have to tighten up at back, admits Rams boss Rowett
Posted Sunday, February 25, 2018 by PA
Derby manager Gary Rowett urged his side to defender better after they were held to a 3-3 Championship draw at struggling Reading.
Kasey Palmer gave Derby the lead in the sixth minute, but Reading went 2-1 ahead after efforts from Liam Kelly and Mo Barrow.
Skipper Richard Keogh levelled for Derby before the break and Tom Lawrence fired them ahead just seconds after the interval.
Jon Dadi Bodvarsson equalised for Reading with 10 minutes left, with Derby losing defender Chris Baird to a straight red card late on for a poor challenge from behind on Barrow.
“It was a good game for the neutral bystander, a good spectacle,” Rowett said. “But for a manager, you don’t want the game to be full of so many swings.
“We started well, but a few things frustrated me today, especially our decision-making defensively. That’s cost us a chance to win the game.
“Reading probably had a good 15-to-20-minute spell, which again, as a team, we just didn’t defend well enough against. It’s very uncharacteristic about how we normally defend.
“But at the moment we’re conceding silly goals every game from open play. Until we cut that out, we’ll find it very hard to a win a game.
“I had a real go at the players at half-time. It’s the first time I’d done that probably all season, but we responded well.
”We looked like we were annoyed and a lot more aggressive.”
Rowett is unlikely to appeal the Baird red card.
“The referee [Tony Harrington] saw the tackle as two-footed and reckless from behind,” Rowett said.
“But I won’t appeal, because it won’t look to be obviously not a red card.”
Reading avoided a fifth successive league defeat at home.
“The goals that we conceded were not good,” Reading manager Jaap Stam said. “We gave away cheap goals and that’s not the first time we’re saying that.
“After they scored early on, we had to get back into the game. And we did that very well with a great goal from Liam Kelly and one from Mo Barrow.
“We wanted to keep the score at 2-1 and then maybe go forward and go for a third goal.
“You knew that Derby had to score and you know that maybe opens them up. But then they score a goal from a set-piece.
“We talked at half-time about what we needed to do and how we could get more out of the game but then, before you know it, that had the space to score their third goal.
“We kept on pushing to get back into the game again and we got a deserved equaliser. So that’s a good point.”
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