“We’re making small steps forward” – How Eustace’s tweaks improved Rams in Wrexham draw

Mo Fuseini sprints through the middle of the pitch following a Wrexham corner and finds Sam Szmodics. He might not have the same pace, but he oozes confidence as he connects with the pass across the inside-left, takes it around Zak Vyner to open up space and curls it into the top-left corner from 20 yards.

Three weeks on the training ground brought a refreshed, better-drilled Rams side back to Pride Park. It is just a shame that Wrexham’s birthday boy Ollie Rathbone was intent on having another reason to celebrate.

Derby remain winless at home this season, but John Eustace was pleased to see the hard yards at Moor Farm show on the pitch. He said: “I thought we deserved all three points. We limited an excellent team to next to nothing, really.”

Going forward, his side reaped the rewards from changes to the trio supporting Carlton Morris. Fuseini came in on the right following his Burnley heroics as Ryan Hedges played his “first ever” game at left back. While Bobby Clark occupied the number 10 role, with Sam Szmodics playing in the inside-left and Hedges overlapping in support.

Of course, it was the combination of the two ‘wide’ men, who looked particularly dangerous when coming inside that led to the opener. A “fantastic strike” following “great movement from Mo [Fuseini]” according to Eustace.

He added: “I think with the formation you’re playing against [Wrexham’s 3-4-2-1], sometimes it allows you to get into those areas [between the wide centre backs and the wing backs]. Overall, I thought we kept Mo wide for the majority of the game, which is where we wanted him. We knew we could get Sammie inside the pitch a little bit more, so I thought it came off in the game for sure.”

And Clark’s move back into his natural central role allowed him to be “more involved” and provided more stability off the ball too, with Derby dropping into a 4-3-3, with the midfield anchored by David Ozoh. Eustace told me: “Overall I felt we looked defensively solid, limited a good team to next to nothing, a couple of half chances. In that aspect, I felt that worked quite well.”

With Szmodics occupying the half-space, the width provided by Ryan Hedges was key too. “I thought he was excellent today for his first ever game at left back,” Eustace said of his “top professional” number 26. There was much talk in the build-up about whether the 31-year-old or natural right back Max Johnston would start there, with Hedges a winger-turned-wing back with data points akin to injured first choice Derry Murkin, but who had never started in a back four.

But Johnston “took a knock to his knee a few weeks ago in training” and will miss another “couple”, so Eustace’s choice was made for him. With Hedges having completed the joint-most dribbles (2), won 67 per cent of his ground duels and made nine recoveries on Saturday, more performances like that could see him have made the position his own by the time the 22-year-old is fit again.

Immediately after scoring, it was clear that the Rams were up for a battle as they pushed for a second. Clark fired a low effort straight at Patterson moments before the injured Josh Windass made way for the visitors’ eventual goalscorer Rathbone.

Already on a booking, Sondre Langås put in a fortunately inch-perfect tackle to launch Derby’s next attack, from which Joe Ward arrowed a deep cross to the back post. Hunting for his second of the afternoon, Szmodics could only head it straight at Anthony Patterson, though.

For all their chances, Derby survived a huge let-off when Langås gifted the ball to Callum O’Hare, who forced Josh Vickers into a save before Issa Kabore put the rebound wide.

Throughout the first half, Derby pressed high looking to win the ball back quickly. A great example of this endeavour came with ten minutes of the first half to play. Bobby Clark stretched to intercept a Wrexham pass and guide it to Szmodics, who had initially conceded possession after his low cross for Fuseini was intercepted. But the number 11 curled his shot just beyond the far top corner.

Wrexham then thought they had levelled in stoppage time when Rathbone found the bottom right corner. Ben Whiteman had been wrongly adjudged to be offside given the ball came out to him off Langås, but Derby would surely have kept playing to defend their goal had Eddie Smart’s flag not gone up.

After a slow start to the second half, Fuseini sparked Derby back into life. Having pressed Zak Vyner into conceding a throw, he then shot wildly off target after being teed up by Clark. Looking for his second goal in as many games, the Ghana international soon broke centrally, opting to shoot rather than play in Szmodics. Given his effort was straight at Patterson, it is fair to say that was the wrong choice.

Hedges and Szmodics continued to gel down the left. The most dangerous instance of their combination play came when the former deftly cut the ball back to the latter who again shot just over from 20 yards.

Derby were knocking on the door and should have had a second with 22 minutes to play. In a fluid move down the right, Clark played a one-two with Fuseini before finding Morris with a backheel. But rather than opt for placement, Morris went for power and blazed the ball into the south stand.

If you thought that was a moment that suggested it was not Derby’s day, you would be right. This despite surviving a goalmouth scramble with ten minutes to play. While the Rams may have lost momentum when Szmodics and Fuseini were substituted, Eustace pointed out that this had no bearing on the equaliser.

He said: “I think by the time we’d made the change, we were pretty set in our shape anyway, from our defensive shape. I think when you look at the goal, the cross came from very, very deep, so I don’t think that really affected anything.”

But for being set in their shape, it left their goal poorly guarded as Kieffer Moore was able to outjump Langås to head Daniel Imray’s ball back across goal for Rathbone to tap in and leave Derby ruing their earlier missed chances.

This is perhaps where changing the front four late on backfired. The Rams’ attack had clicked; the depleted defence still needs work. Therefore, was trying to hold onto the lead the right move?

But there were obvious signs of progress, from Burnley and certainly Birmingham. Eustace says that “back-to-back draws are better than back-to-back defeats” as he highlights “small steps forward”. The challenge now, whether by taking chances and killing off games or holding firm at the back, is to take a bigger step and turn draws into wins.

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Goals: Szmodics 9’ | Rathbone 88’.

Derby (4-2-3-1): Vickers (GK); Ward, Langås, Sanderson, Hedges; Ozoh, Mowatt; Fuseini (Meister 72’), Clark (Fraulo 84’), Szmodics (Brewster 72’); Morris (C) (Salvesen 84’).

Unused substitutes: O’Donnell (GK); Nyambe, Travis, Bilbija; Blackett-Taylor.

Wrexham (3-4-2-1): Vyner (Dobson 85’), Worrall, Hyam (C); Kaboré (Imray 64’), Whiteman, O’Brien (Smith 64’), Ekomié (Longman 85’); O’Hare, Windass (Rathbone 15’); Moore.

Unused Substitutes: Ward (GK); A. James; Cadamarteri, Chesworth.