Paul Warne has criticised Derby County after they missed out on a ‘very good opportunity’ to go top of League One.
Derby County made it two games without a win as they were narrowly beaten by Reading last night, with a second-half goal from Paul Mukairu proving to be the difference at the Select Car Leasing Stadium.
The Rams put on another poor display in front of goal yesterday, claiming zero shots on target, despite having eleven shots in total.
Paul Warne’s side remain three points off the top spot, but have slipped down to fourth place after Bolton Wanderers claimed a victory of their own yesterday.
It was Reading’s first win in seven games and has taken them within four points of safety at the bottom of the third tier.
It was the second game in a row where Derby have failed to score and Warne has now criticised his team for not getting the ‘simple basics’ right.
Speaking to Derbyshire Live, Warne said: “It was a very good opportunity to get to the top of the league.
“But I thought we got outfought and outrun. Sometimes football just comes down to the simple basics. I didn’t think there was much tactical nuance to the game.
“We didn’t win enough second balls and when you can’t play the way you want to, sometimes you have to roll your sleeves up. We didn’t really match their intensity. They are the second-best in the league at pressing and anything in the middle of the pitch, they came after us.
“Any more than two touches and it’s a problem. When we got to the final third, we never had any end product. But I didn’t think there was much in the game and a draw might have been a fair result. They just had a bit more energy than we had.”
Are Derby County going to crumble again?
Derby County seem to be going through a rather sticky patch this month, shortly after Paul Warne picked up the League One Manager of the Month award.
The Rams collected 13 points from a possible 15 in December and looked on track to challenge for the league title, but they have now failed to win in four of their last six matches in all competitions.
It will feel like Deja vu for supporters, who enjoyed a 15-game unbeaten run between October and February last year, but then Derby went onto win only three of their next eleven games (D2 L6) and missed out on the play-offs all together.
Warne needs to start making changes and improvements, because Derby can’t afford to be stuck in League One for a further year – and neither can his job.