LAMPARD HAILS HIS COMEBACK BRAVES
FRANK Lampard praised his Derby side’s mentality and welcomed a second chance after masterminding a dramatic comeback against Southampton.
“It wasn’t so much the quality, more so the mentality that changed,” said the Derby boss. “There wasn’t that much quality on the pitch, but we were quality off it.”
Tom Lawrence’s dazzler shocked Southampton as Derby hit back from 2-0 down to force a replay.
The winger struck from 25 yards just three minutes after Jack Marriott had pulled a goal back at Pride Park.
Richard Keogh deflected in Nathan Redmond’s early strike before Redmond’s brilliant second-half effort put the visitors in cruise control.
And then Marriott blew a golden chance to win it in stoppage time.
Lampard was annoyed to go behind early on: “You can’t come up against Premier League opposition and be like that. Our reaction was brilliant.
“It showed what we can do when we are at it. It’s a lesson, we got a draw but we could have won.”
The Saints looked on course to reach the fourth round with minimum fuss when they opened the scoring after four minutes. Shane Long found Redmond in space on the left and his low drive appeared to be creeping in before Keogh slid in to deflect it into the opposite corner from four yards.
It took until the 32nd minute for the Rams to carve out a clear opening when Craig Bryson sent Marriott scampering through. The striker slipped in Duane Holmes, but his angled effort was comfortably saved.
Yet, despite matching the Saints in the first half, the hosts fell 2-0 behind four minutes into the second.
If there was a doubt over the scorer of the opener, Redmond ensured there was no debate when he cut inside and curled a brilliant effort into the top corner from 20 yards.
The game appeared won but Derby hit back with two goals in three minutes to level. First, Marriott’s sharp half-volley from Lawrence’s cross pulled a goal back after 58 minutes.
Lawrence then levelled himself when he was allowed to advance and his wonderful low 25-yard effort found the bottom corner.
A routine cup game had come to life and there were chances for Mohamed Elyounoussi, James Ward-Prowse and Redmond to put the Saints ahead.
But Marriott should have completed Derby’s comeback in triumph with the last kick of the game, only for his shot to balloon wildly over from 16 yards.
Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl accused is side of complacency, saying: “We didn’t want this game, we had a good chance to go through and we gave it away. We have to do it again with more concentration and more passion.”