"Every time we touched them" 'Biased' Derby County boss irked by referee in Sheffield Wednesday comeback
Derby County boss Paul Warne cut a deflated figure in his post-match media engagement after Sheffield Wednesday snatched a late win at Pride Park on Sunday.
A second home game on the spin saw Derby County lose despite having enjoyed good periods of the game - this time at the hands of a battling Sheffield Wednesday side who snared yet another win from behind to stretch their impressive away form to four wins in five.
A Barry Bannan wonderstrike seemed to turn the game in Wednesday’s favour on 64 minutes before Jamal Lowe’s late, late winner sealed the points for the travelling Owls. Rams boss Paul Warne delivered an image of mixed feelings speaking to the media after the game; pride in the performance of his players mixed with huge frustration at the result.
“I am bit sore,” he said. “I thought we were really good and the performance levels were really good. I am really proud of everyone's efforts and you can imagine the dressing room is lower than a snake's belly.
“We just didn't get the elusive second goal. If you give the opposition a chance and I think Barry is the only player on the pitch who was going to score a goal like that. We only conceded two shots on target and I am just disappointed for the dressing room really. They didn't deserve that. But we can't keep saying we were unlucky.”
Derby had lost to Swansea City on Wednesday evening, whereas the Owls had won at Hull City a day earlier. Warne - whose side gathered an xG of 1.88 compared to Wednesday’s 0.90 - suggested that could have been a factor and touched on the performance of the officials on a day the home side gave away 20 fouls to Wednesday’s seven.
“We looked a little bit leggy,” he continued. “We had 24 hours less rest than them and they were on the back of a good win midweek, so we tried to put some more legs on the pitch. Apart from having to defend loads of free-kicks - it felt like everything we did was a foul - I still didn’t feel like they were going to score. I fancied us to score from a set piece or something but it wasn’t to be.”
Put to him that Wednesday were given some cheap fouls late on in the game, Warne didn’t argue - but admitted he probably wasn’t the most objective figure in the debate.
The former Rotherham United boss said: “That’s what it felt like, but then again I’m so biased aren’t I? It just felt like every time we touched them it was a foul and the other way around it wasn’t. But like I say, I’m biased so it’s probably not a fair question to ask because I have feelings. I felt there was a foul in the build-up play and considering how the game preceding that had been played... Look, I’m biased. I’ll watch it back with objective eyes and take the emotion out of it.”