‘A game we could win‘ - Derby County boss Paul Warne shares frustrated reaction after Bristol City defeat

Derby County suffered a 1-0 away loss to Championship play-off hopefuls Bristol City.Derby County suffered a 1-0 away loss to Championship play-off hopefuls Bristol City.
Derby County suffered a 1-0 away loss to Championship play-off hopefuls Bristol City. | Getty Images
Bristol City earned their third victory in four matches to jump within touching distance of the play-off places

Bristol City climbed to within three points of the play-off places with a hard-fought 1-0 victory against Championship strugglers Derby County at Ashton Gate.

Robins centre back Luke McNally made it three for the season with the winning goal in the 17th minute after a fine set up from a Scott Twine free kick.

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The visitors, who have picked up just one away victory all season, had started the game strongly with Max O’Leary making two fine saves to deny both Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and Marcus Harness, but as the match progressed Bristol City largely controlled the tempo of the game in a difficult afternoon for the Rams who drop to 18th in the league table.

Derby battled hard without much cutting edge in the final third and were booed off the pitch by the travelling supporters in a game where the fans had little to cheer about, particularly in the second 45.

Speaking after the game, Derby County boss Paul Warne expressed his disappointment and conceded that his team simply didn’t do enough to match Liam Manning’s side: "I didn't think we were anywhere near our best today, I thought it was a game that we could win and it just felt like a game too far for our lads.

"I just thought we had to get as much energy out of the group as we could, I don't think we played with much energy. There were moments where we got into the final third [in the] first half, second half was like we just tired out of the game.

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"I just feel we need to regroup, freshen up, freshen the squad up a bit. We lost too many tackles, made some crazy decisions and definitely didn't do enough to deserve a win.

"To concede off a set-piece was really disappointing."

Bristol City play host to Premier League side Wolves in the FA Cup third round before returning to Championship action with a trip to face Frank Lampard’s Coventry City in two weeks time.

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