Town Manager’s post-match comments
Huddersfield Town Manager Mark Robins was happier with the application of his players despite the 3-1 reversal at Derby County today.
Robins called for a reaction after the poor showing in the midweek defeat at home to Ipswich and saw his side take the lead at the iPro Stadium.
“We got a reaction and a decent first period, up until just before the half-time whistle. They are a really good side and we had to be at our best, as we do every week.
“I thought our application was excellent, which is the prerequisite for every game. I got the reaction I asked for.
“I thought we were good value for our lead, as we started off really brightly. Nahki took his goal fantastically well and it looked like we were in for a good game today as their crowd started to get a bit edgy. I thought we controlled the game pretty well, defended well, and looked dangerous when we broke forward.”
Derby equalised and then the tide started to turn as Joel Lynch and Peter Clarke were both sent off.
“You can question Joel’s first booking, but the second was laziness on the touchline – you have to defend it properly and we didn’t do that. Now we will miss Joel for two games, as he’s had a suspension before. We’ll have to take that on the chin.
“I couldn’t really see the second incident and I’ve not seen the footage to review it. It came through quick play from Derby and we had to be quick defensively to try and stop the ball from coming into our penalty area, which we didn’t manage to do.”
Derby took the lead for the first time in the game through an individual error from goalkeeper Alex Smithies.
“Nobody expected their second goal to happen, but it did and Alex has to move past it. His head is down in the dressing room as he’s very disappointed with that, but in the game he made other world class saves to keep the score down.
“It seemed today like everything went against us and at nine men, it was effectively game over. Despite that we stuck to the task and restricted them as far as we possibly could. It’s very difficult with nine men to give yourself a threat going forward whilst ensuring you don’t capitulate, because that can have a very detrimental effect to the goal difference.
“Nahki was tiring, but I wanted to give him enough time to get another goal. Once the second sending off happened that stops you playing out, so Sean (Scannell) came on for the last 25 minutes.
“We’ve had a bad week, but today we saw a little bit more togetherness. It’s important we move forward as a group and take that into the next four games, as there’s a lot of football still to be played. We’ve all got to stick together.
“None of us are happy with the outcome today, or with the run we are on. If we show the application we showed in the first-half today that will go a long way towards securing the points we need and the performances the supporters are looking for.”
