Frank Lampard says Derby have ‘more in the tank’ after his first home win

Posted Wednesday, August 22, 2018 by PA

Frank Lampard described Derby’s first home victory under his management as a big success for him after Ipswich were beaten 2-0 at Pride Park.

Second-half strikes from Joe Ledley and Tom Lawrence ended a run of two defeats for Lampard’s team as Ipswich lost at Derby for the first time in 12 years.

There had been nothing in the game until Ledley’s strike proved to be the defining moment in the contest.

David Nugent had curled a first-half effort just wide and Grant Ward shot straight at Scott Carson but both teams were unable to find a telling pass.

When the breakthrough came, it was from a half-cleared corner that fell to Ledley 22 yards out and his shot found the top corner via a deflection.

Ipswich’s chances of extending their excellent record at Derby ended when Lawrence drove in a low free-kick from the edge of the box despite Bartosz Bialkowski getting a hand on it.

Lampard said: “It was reward for work rate, attitude, and good play. It was a good lesson for me and I’ve not taken the highs or lows too much either way. After (losing at) Millwall, people were looking at one win out of three, two losses on the bounce and now today we’ve won.

“I think there’s more in the tank but we have to stay grounded, this is a long game for us. We are trying to change a bit of style and bring young players in so there’s a process, but of course results are massive because people will judge you by them so it was very big for me and for us to get that one.

“There are signs in training in terms of what we are working towards but it’s certainly too early for me to say after one win at home. I know we are working very hard and the players know what we want to do, but the thing is to try and do it consistently which is going to take more time.”

Ipswich manager Paul Hurst said: “Quite a few people have said to me there wasn’t too much in the game. Derby had a lot of possession but I’m not sure how many saves Bart (Bialkowski) was actually called upon to make.

“We spoke about belief again and did we truly have that belief collectively that we were going to get back in the game. I feel like we almost gave them too much respect at times and we’ve got to shake that off.

“We know there’s some big names in this league and some big-name players but we are equal in terms of we are in the same league.”