One Derby County star could now lose his place in the starting XI despite a ‘solid’ showing in the 2-0 defeat to Sunderland.
Derby County’s abysmal away record continued on Tuesday, as Paul Warne’s men were beaten by Championship highflyers Sunderland.
The Rams registered their fourth successive away defeat on the bounce and in turn, matched an unwanted 40-year record.
Warne was left disappointed by the quality of his Derby players in the final third but there were also a few highlights to come from the loss.
Kenzo Goudmijn was an impressive performer in midfield and the talented Dutchman wasn’t the only individual to come away with credibility.
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Nat Phillips was ‘solid’ in Derby County start vs Sunderland
Warne made a couple of alterations to the side that lost 3-2 to Norwich City last weekend and one of those was the decision to switch to a back three while awarding Nat Phillips his first start.
Phillips – who arrived on loan from Liverpool in the summer – was deployed in the centre of a back three alongside Eiran Cashin and Curtis Nelson.
The 27-year-old has had to be patient since joining the Championship side but his performance against Sunderland was ‘solid’, as described by Leigh Curtis of the Derby Telegraph, who wrote: “A solid enough full debut for the on-loan Liverpool defender who was an obvious target from attacking set-pieces. Mopped up a couple of dangerous situations. Went off injured.”
A threat from set pieces due to his aerial presence and a ‘monster’ in physical battles, Phillips won two ground duels, three aerial duels and made two tackles.
The Englishman was then substituted for Ryan Nyambe in the 75th minute due to a suspected injury, and while it didn’t look serious, that isn’t the reason why he may not start against QPR.
Why Nat Phillips may not start vs QPR
Typically, the above defensive metrics would be enough to secure another start in the next game, but Phillips’ place in the starting XI is at risk.
Warne has used a 4-3-3 system throughout this campaign however, to deal with the attacking threat of Sunderland, he chose to switch to a five-man defence, hence why Phillips started on Tuesday.
The Derby boss is now likely to play a more attacking system for the visit of QPR and return to a four-man defence, which could see the Liverpool loanee unfortunately miss out.
Derby’s centre-back partnership of Nelson and Cashin is arguably the most important component of the team and there’s little chance Warne would break it up to start Phillips.
That means, despite performing admirably against the league leaders, the former Cardiff City man could drop back to the bench this weekend.