[PA Media]
After a long-awaited home win against Swansea City was followed up by a display that fell well below Derby’s standards at Watford, the Rams travelled to Hull looking to bounce back and close the gap on the play-off places.
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Before the game began there were a few eyebrows raised at the backline selected by John Eustace, with the head coach opting for three natural left-backs out of his four starting defenders.
Joe Ward, who has put in some impressive performances at right-back this season, and right-footed centre-back Dion Sanderson were both among the substitutes, leaving questions as to why neither of them were selected to start the game.
This decision would prove costly as Derby looked uncomfortable at the back from the off, with Hull’s first two goals coming from two sloppy moments in defence.
Despite this, the Rams were starting to see that they were not the only team who possess defensive frailties, and equalised twice to bring the score level by half-time.
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In the second half it was a case of who could be better in both boxes, and ultimately more clinical in front of goal. That team somehow managed to be Hull.
Despite ending the game with an expected goals of 3.27, the Rams were undone by a side who only registered 0.58 in xG.
Of course, stats do not win football matches, but on the balance of chances created, shots on target, and touches inside the opposition’s box, Derby were significantly superior throughout.
With perhaps the most telling number from the match being Hull only registering three shots on target across the 90 minutes, despite scoring four goals.
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The turning point, in my opinion, came in the 69th minute.
With the scores level at 2-2, Red Bull Salzburg loanee Bobby Clark, had a golden opportunity to fire the Rams into the lead. That chance was missed, and just six minutes later, Hull went 3-2 up instead.
How many times do we see that in football? One team being left to rue missed chances, with the other stealing the lead out of very little.
The overriding feeling from the whole performance was that Derby did not play badly, and Hull were not particularly excellent either.
A few individual errors in Derby’s backline, paired with the Rams not being clinical enough in front of goal, left the scoreline flattering Hull.
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It did feel as though changes could’ve been made by Derby quicker as John Eustace only decided to call upon Rhian Brewster and Carlton Morris after Hull went ahead.
For me, this was too little too late, and had the changes been made 10-15 minutes sooner, I think Derby could’ve nudged ahead whilst momentum was in their favour.
Looking ahead to Blackburn Rovers on Saturday, it’s pretty simple really – Derby must be more clinical.
That could be achieved by reintroducing joint top scorer Morris to the starting line-up, and pushing Patrick Agyemang back into a wide role, where I personally believe he looks most comfortable and confident.
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The positive thing for Derby is that we now have a plethora of attacking options, of a significantly higher calibre than what we have had in previous seasons.
With the reassurance of that strength in depth, I believe the Rams’ current struggles with converting chances to goals won’t become a long-term problem, and I fully expect to see Derby put their back-to-back defeats behind them on Saturday.
You can often catch Amelia Warren as a guest on BBC Radio Derby.
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