Paul Warne praises character of Derby players despite defeat at Wycombe

Posted Sunday, February 12, 2023 by PA

Paul Warne praised the character of his Derby players despite their 15-match unbeaten league run coming to an end in a 3-2 League One loss to Wycombe on Saturday.

After James Collins cancelled out an early opener from Wycombe’s Sam Vokes, Lewis Wing’s double proved enough for the hosts, who held on for three points despite a late goal from Lewis Dobbin.

It was the first time since October that Derby tasted defeat in the league, though Warne refused to be too disheartened post-match.

He said: “It’s always disappointing when you lose. I knew it was going to be a difficult game – it’s not one of my favourite places to come.

“I’ve seen different sides of this team for a few months now. They’ve got character and fight – they’re devastated they’ve lost.

“They did everything they could but it wasn’t to be. In moments, we could have been better, of course we could have. Credit to Wycombe – it’s a big win for them.

“I thought overall our play was OK really. In the first half we created enough positive positions on the pitch to score goals and we didn’t take it.

“In fairness, they could have scored two first-half goals and we might have been able to score three or four.

“But what I really love about this team is that they don’t give up. At one stage it looked like the game was over. They kept going.”

Victory for Wycombe sees them sit seventh in the table – just two places and six points behind Saturday’s opponents – after they secured a fifth win from sixth at home.

And boss Gareth Ainsworth believes the result should leave clubs wary of a trip to Adams Park.

He said: “The boys were brilliant. I wanted it to be more comfortable than it was but Derby are a brilliant side and for us to come up with this win is a real statement.

“I’m just hoping we can continue on this run that we’re on, because the boys really believe in what they’re doing at the moment.

“We tweaked our formation – everybody’s been playing these standard formations against Derby and they’ve been ripping teams apart. So I wanted to try something a little bit different.

“We’ve had a lot of plaudits for our defensive play, our shutouts and nil-nils against us, but today we attacked really well.

“There was one move in the first half where Jason McCarthy got slipped in behind and I thought this would be a great goal for a long-ball team.

“It’s amazing, but if people keep billing us as that, then keep doing it. Keep underestimating us.”