Derby County manager Paul Warne has said that he wants his side to be more ‘aggressive’.
The Rams lost their second in three games on Saturday when they lost 3-1 away at Stevenage, in what was a poor performance.
The result put Warne under more pressure as manager, but it has since come out that he is being fully backed by the board.
Warne on Derby being ‘too honest’
Speaking to the Derby Telegraph, Warne claimed that his side are ‘too honest’ and that they need to be more physical.
“We can show the players their individual clips and say this isn’t acceptable, this isn’t good. And it’s not so much we’re not aggressive, it’s sometimes we are too honest.
“I had a clip of one of my players today where the ball is bouncing in the middle of the park, he’s gone to go and win it, but their lad has just thought I’m going to bop you and take it. And he did. Sometimes it’s not just about aggressive, but more guile. You can help that.
“The harshest thing is if you don’t show aggression, you don’t play. They are the only things you can do apart from hitting with them a stick before they go out. But obviously, I am joking.”
Rams need to be better
Warne is identifying a problem which has been there for Derby since their drop into League One over a year ago.
League One is always going to be a division where it is more physical than the Championship.
Arguably this may be something they deal with due to the players brought in, with a number of players the Rams have brought in since relegation have made the drop down from the Championship.
The Rams will be looking to put this right when they host Northampton Town on Tuesday night.