“It’s a point on the board” – Derby draw after Clowes message

Steve Bloomer’s watching and not even gravity can hold us down. Back at Pride Park for the first time since Turki Alalshikh’s takeover collapsed, David Clowes is determined not to let that do so either.

A blame game surrounding what Derby County’s reluctant hero called “the ultimate bombshell” which left the club “stunned” and “dazed” will not happen – “it serves no purpose”. His message in the first programme of the season: it is business as usual, he will back “ultimate professional” John Eustace and not let events off the pitch stop Derby making progress.

But sloppiness in both boxes might. The Rams have a point on the board after a 2-2 draw with Cardiff City, but it could, and according to Eustace should have been all three.

It is something to build on for the head coach, though, who remains patient despite all the complications that have come his way at the start of this season.

He told me: “I think we’ve carried on the team spirit. For sure, I think it’s very evident when the chips are down, the boys roll their sleeves up and they keep going. But we need quality.”

In the opening minutes on Saturday, Derby exposed Cardiff’s lack of fit central defenders. Bobby Clark had an early effort cleared off the line after Corey Blackett-Taylor and Oscar Fraulo worked Nathan Trott. Between these chances, and Blackett-Taylor’s low drive, which was kicked behind by Trott’s outstretched leg, it should have been 1-0 before the quarter-of-an-hour mark.

But as Derby sat deeper, with both Lewis Travis and Alex Mowatt dropping into the back line, Cardiff grew into the game. Rubin Colwill was denied when Jacob Widell Zetterström tipped his effort onto the bar, before somehow getting a fist to Yousef Salech’s close-range header from a corner. Derby’s number one was powerless to stop Cian Ashford scoring though. Pinball ensued from another corner as Sondre Langås lost the winger, who rifled a shot into the bottom-left corner.

Once behind, The Rams were forced to push up. But with Cardiff dominating the ball, their threat remained in transition. The hosts equalised when Fraulo touched the ball to Bobby Clark, who lifted a lovely pass over the top from the inside-right to Carlton Morris; flicking the ball on with his head, Derby’s number nine bulldozed past makeshift centre back Perry Ng to fire low across goal from eight yards out.

It was exactly the type of centre-forward’s play that The Rams have come to expect from Morris, as Eustace reflected: “His all-round play today was top drawer. Obviously, he tired a little bit at the end.

“You know, similar to last week really, I thought he was unplayable at times at Charlton and then tired. It’s something that we might have to look at if we want to keep him going for 90 minutes.”

Now level, the game was end-to-end. Against Derby’s man-to-man press, it was difficult for Cardiff “to find real overloads and control play”, according to boss Brian Barry-Murphy. It might not have been an overload, but the way that the visitors found space down Derby’s left for their second goal was excellent, if not a bit too easy.

After three Bluebirds pressed Morris to win the ball back, Ollie Tanner skipped past Travis into space vacated by Charlie Taylor, forcing Dion Sanderson and Sondre Langås to come across. Tanner then slipped the ball through to Colwill, who found Salech unmarked at the back post and he slotted home.

“We’re missing big Clarkey [Matt Clarke] which obviously makes a huge difference,” Eustace said. “We score goals as a team and we defend as a team, so it comes from the front. It’s something that we’ve got to improve on.”

The Rams came out of the blocks well after the break, Blackett-Taylor looking to be bright and direct after some neat passing triangles down the left. He then beat Ronan Kpakio again, his cut-back bouncing off the defender to Clark, who blasted a right-footed effort high into the goal from 15 yards out.

Otherwise, chances were few and far between in the second half. Substitute Chris Willock was brightest for Cardiff, but his crossing in acres of space down the left, was consistently poor. Ryan Hedges made his Derby debut from the bench and had a couple of bright moments down the left. But it was fellow substitute Lars-Jørgen Salvesen who went closest as he fired straight at Trott from 15 yards in stoppage time.

Clark off the mark

Bobby’s Clark’s permanent return to Derby may have started slowly, much like the team, but on Saturday he showed the quality The Rams know he is capable of. A goal, an excellent assist, and some classy moments on the ball. That slip when played through later in the second half, sums up where Derby are: they just lack that little bit more composure, and frankly, luck too.

His player of the match display came out of position too, tasked with playing on the right of the attacking midfield three while licensed to roam. Yet he created the most chances (3), took the most shots (5), and completed the most dribbles (4). But it was of course the goal contributions which delighted Eustace most.

He explained: “We spoke about it earlier in the week, actually, that we want to improve his numbers from last year and he's been disappointed that he hasn't had many opportunities in front of goal and he hasn't created as well as he should. I thought first half; he was he was okay. He was out of position quite a lot when we had the ball, which we had to speak about half-time.

“It was a fantastic pass for Carlton, for sure, but then second half, I thought, he really played his position very well and I was delighted the way he performed.”

Dealing with the lack of wingers

Clark playing out of position is only one consequence of Derby’s current lack of wingers. With the lack of a natural width-creator on the right wing, that job falls to the right back.

Maybe it was because I was in the stadium this week, or perhaps the players benefitted from another week of work at Moor Farm, but the structures looked clearer than at Charlton. Out of possession, The Rams sat in a 4-2-3-1, which morphed into a back three in possession. But instead of the 3-4-2-1 shape that we saw at The Valley, Derby’s use of wide men was more assertive. With a natural winger on the left in Corey Blackett-Taylor, as opposed to a wing back in Charlie Taylor, the in-possession structure shifted to more of a 3-4-2-1.

With Taylor tucking in to form a back three with Langås and Sanderson, Johnston pushed up out of a back four, often pressing in the midfield line, and moving into the sort of positions Joe Ward occupied in London when Derby had the ball. Ward though, had been the right winger in front of Langås at right back out of possession.

For a player that Eustace has admitted he must be careful with given his injuries last season, it was a lot of work. Johnston tackled the physical side of it fairly well. But the 22-year-old must refine his general play in the final third, and his crossing, though limited to just two attempts in this game, was not as accurate as usual.

The defensive trade-off was a calculated decision, with Mowatt joining Travis the attempt to bolster the backline in possession. This only somewhat worked though, as while it gave Derby security in their last line, it gave Cardiff a fair amount of space to build up in.

“You have to adapt”, Eustace told me. “We have to try and get players in the positions where they can affect the game but also try and get other players in that understand their roles and responsibilities as well. So, it's a bit of a balancing act.” 

Eustace will hope that between Hedges’ fitness and further incomings, this problem will finally be solved in time for next week’s visit of Swansea City.

Clowes insists that he will back his head coach with the plans, and budget that were agreed earlier this year, and that “thankfully, we hadn't missed out on the vast majority of our targets”. There is a big week ahead.

Goals: Morris 26', Clark 49' | Ashford 19, Salech 39'.

Derby (4-2-3-1): Zetterström (GK); Johnston (Nyambe 88’), Sanderson, Langås, Taylor; Mowatt, Travis (C), Clark, Fraulo (Brewster 65’), Blackett-Taylor (Hedges 65’); Morris (Salvesen 88’)

Unused substitutes: Vickers (GK); Forsyth, Ward; Eames, Bilbija.

Cardiff (4-2-3-1): Trott (GK); Ng, Kpakio, Bagan, Scanlon; Moylan (J. Colwill 71’), Robertson; Tanner (Davies 71’), R. Colwill (C) (Turnbull 59’), Ashford (Willock 59’); Salech.

Unused substitutes: Tyrer (GK), Turner (GK); Anyadike; Turnbull, J. Colwill, Tankiewicz; Robinson, Willock, Davies.