Rooney left frustrated by late lapse

Browne sinks 10-man Rams

WAYNE ROONEY endured Christmas agony as ten-man Derby County fell to an injury-time defeat to remain in the Championship’s bottom three.

Derby had survived with a man less since the 20th minute following the sending-off of Martyn Waghorn and were all set to jump above Rotherham with a hard-earned point.

But in the sixth minute of injury time, when only five had been initially si gnalled, Preston captain Alan Browne found a bit of space among some tired legs to curl in the winner past David Marshall and break Derby’s hearts.

It ended a six-game unbeaten run under Rooney’s temporary management and it was a first goal conceded in five matches as they had been set to climb out of the drop zone for the first time since the end of October. As it is, they remain deep in trouble.

Although Rooney is new to management, he is experienced in the emotions of football, yet it was s t i l l hard f or t he exEngland captain to take after watching his players put in a real Boxing Day shift.

‘I’m very frustrated,’ he said. ‘That was our best performance of the season as with ten men for so long, we had to defend well and dig in but we still looked a threat going forward.’

Rooney accepted referee Darren Bond’s decision to send off Waghorn, but he was unhappy about a refusal to blow for what he thought was a foul seconds before Browne’s winner. ‘There was a clear foul on Louie Sibley in the build-up to the goal,’ he insisted.

‘I know how difficult it is for referees but I can see it from where I was stood, but none of the four officials could. They are the big moments in a game. If that had been given, we would have gone into the corner and taken a well-earned point.’

It is only one win and five goals scored in 11 home matches for the Rams — the worst in the division — but the chances of improving on that were severely hampered by Waghorn’s early dismissal as he flew into Browne in a reckless tackle that was late and over the top.

The hot-headedness must have been in t he air as Preston defender Darnell Fisher walked a tightrope on the stroke of halftime. Booked for a foul on Colin Kazim-Richards, Fisher continued his complaints to the referee in a vociferous way.

Paul Gallagher, sensing the fine line his team-mate was on, tried to usher him away only for the pair to get involved in a bit of pushing and shoving, with Browne having to steer them away from each other.

When Alex Neil’s team channelled their efforts in the right way after the break, they put the hosts under more pressure and Marshall was called upon to deny Tom Barkhuizen and Sean Maguire.

But in truth, they struggled to make their extra man count and the chance to claim all three points looked to have gone, before Browne took matters into his own hands with virtually the last kick of the game to secure North End’s first league win here since 2002.

It meant back-to-back wins for only the second time this season, but Neil was still not completely satisfied.

‘I didn’t really see a goal coming in the second half,’ he said. ‘But it was nice for Alan to pop up with that bit of quality.

‘It’s a strange feeling because we’ve won the game and I’m not as happy as I should be as I wanted a performance and a result. But tomorrow no one will be talking about that, just the win.’