Same old problems for Derby, coming at both ends
THREE games to go and Derby County are hanging on to their Championship status.
Losing 3-0 against Preston North End at Deepdale on Tuesday night was a fourth consecutive defeat for the Rams and they find themselves on a crippling run of only one win in 12 matches.
Two of the bottom three sides, Rotherham United and Sheffield Wednesday, are sensing Derby’s nervousness.
Here are four key talking points from another defeat.
HAUNTED BY SAME OLD PROBLEM
Failure to find the net against Preston means Derby have drawn a blank in 21 of their 43 league games this season, a miserable record.
They are the lowest scorers in the Championship, with 31, and it is little wonder they have suffered 22 defeats.
The Rams have struggled to create and score all season. Only once have they managed to score more than two goals in a game and that was in a 4-0 win away to Birmingham City a few days after Christmas. The result is a beacon in a barren wasteland.
Derby are paying the price for a failure to strengthen their attacking department sufficiently ahead of this season, although early-season injuries to Martyn Waghorn and
Tom Lawrence did not help.
FROM WATERTIGHT TO LEAKING GOALS
Derby County’s climb from bottom of the Championship and out of the relegation zone during December and January was built on a solid base.
Yes, there were victories but there were also clean sheets – eight in a run of 11 matches.
Wayne Rooney said he wanted Derby to be more difficult to beat and that happened. They were far more rigid as a team when not in possession.
That has disappeared. Derby now look defensively shaky and are leaking goals – nine in their last four matches. They are sloppy goals, to add to the deep frustration.
The two conceded in the 2-1 defeat against Blackburn Rovers on Friday were avoidable: a free header from a corner and an individual mistake when Andre Wisdom lost possession. The three goals conceded to Preston highlighted Derby’s struggles defensively, individually and collectively.
The 4-0 win away to Birmingham City is a beacon in a barren wasteland.
Steve Nicholson
WORRYING REACTION TO FALLING BEHIND
Derby have failed to win a game all season when they have fallen behind.
The last time they won coming from behind was away to Millwall in June of last season.
They trailed to Matt Smith’s 15thminute header but hit back to win 3-2 thanks to Louie Sibley’s excellent hat-trick.
But such powers of recovery have well and truly deserted Derby, something manager Wayne Rooney highlighted after the Preston defeat.
“In football, you concede goals and go behind but we have to react better. We can’t afford to sulk or let our heads drop. It is something we have struggled with all season,” said Rooney.
THIS IS NOT AN EXCUSE
Injuries happen and all teams can pinpoint key injuries – but Derby have been hit hard by them and it has shown.
Losing Krystian Bielik just as the Polish international was settling into a groove of very good form was a huge blow.
Stationed in front of the back four and offering a protective shield, he started all 11 of the games in which Derby kept eight clean sheets. The Rams won six and drew two of those 11 fixtures.
Losing the experience of central defender Curtis Davies to a seasonending Achilles injury in December was another significant setback. His know-how right now would be very useful and would have been in recent weeks and months.
Tom Lawrence’s absence at the start of the season and then for three months during the campaign did not help, nor have recent injuries to striker Lee Gregory and Teden Mengi.
Not excuses, just facts that can be factored in when dissecting Derby’s struggle.