Liam Rosenior – Derby taught a harsh lesson by Plymouth

Posted Sunday, September 04, 2022 by PA

Derby interim manager Liam Rosenior admitted his team were taught a hard lesson in the 3-2 home defeat by Plymouth.

Rosenior saw his team squander a two-goal lead against a side who played what he described as “fearless football.”

Plymouth impressed from the start but fell behind in the 26th minute when David McGoldrick found James Collins who netted his first Derby goal.

Derby scored again in the 38th minute when Nathaniel Mendez-Laing turned away from two defenders to drive in his third of the season.

But the fightback began in the 56th minute when former Derby striker Morgan Whittaker pounced from close range after Matt Butcher’s shot was blocked.

Derby could not keep possession and Plymouth equalised in the 77th minute when Niall Ennis’s sliced shot was turned in by Sam Cosgrove.

The comeback was completed in the 90th minute when Cosgrove broke clear on the right and squeezed the ball in from a tight angle.

Rosenior said: “Hats off to Plymouth, I thought from minute one to minute 90 they showed more energy.

“It was a huge game for them and we have to understand really, really quickly that with the size of the club, the facilities, the stadium, the names we have in our squad, teams are going to come here and give it their absolute maximum.

“All credit to Steven Schumacher and to his team, I thought they were a credit to him and they got the result they probably deserved.

“They played fearless football but we have to be better in terms of our energy, winning second balls and the fundamentals of the game.

“We have to remember we have a lot of very young players in the squad and this is a great learning one for them.

“If you take your foot off the gas by two or three per cent there are good teams in this league and Plymouth proved that so it’s a learning tool for us and we have to put things right next Saturday.”

Plymouth manager Steven Schumacher said: “We created loads of good chances and played really well but got punished when we got sloppy and careless.

“I spoke at half time about how we were almost beating ourselves but the lads have shown unbelievable character and attitude to keep believing and stick to the plan and I felt we deserved it in the end.

“This might be something they can take confidence from moving forward because there are some big teams in this division, former Premier League teams with big grounds and big fan bases and we are going to have to go to all of them and get the game plan right.”