By Josh Holland
Derby County manager Phillip Cocu was pleased with his side’s second-half performance, as Chris Martin’s late penalty rescued a point against Sheffield Wednesday.
The Rams were under the cosh for the majority of the first half but replied with constant pressure in the second period. Martin’s spot-kick stretched Derby’s unbeaten record at Pride Park to nine games.
On the back of the result, Cocu said: “I’m very pleased with the second half. It took us maybe 30 minutes to find a way to get in a position with the ball. That’s a long time.
“You have to put in more effort, physically and aggressively. We made a slight change at the break. I like the spirit I saw from the team in the second half and we played a little more direct.
“On the ball, maybe it wasn’t the best game, but a lot of passion created chances to score. The equaliser came a little late so you are fighting against time. I like the spirit I saw from the team in the second-half and it’s important to see this because I am 100% we will face the same style of play om Saturday.”
Sheffield Wednesday’s goal came from a Craig Forsyth mistake, not being the first time that Derby have gifted their opponents a goal this season. However, Cocu backed his players to make up for individual mistakes as a team.
“It’s bad decision making. In this case [for Forsyth’s mistake], there wasn’t a lot of pressure and he has options,” he said.
“It’s a real quality finish from Fletcher and individual mistakes are part of the game. We just need to make sure we take advantage of the mistakes from our opponents.”
As the half time whistle blew, the home fans made their opinions heard with a number of boos echoing around Pride Park and the man in charge understands their frustrations.
He said: “Fans have their opinions. The team went for it and we missed chances, they can go home thinking they showed pride and gave everything. They are allowed to give a reaction, but we have to make sure they don’t.”
With Millwall coming up on Saturday, Cocu has played down that the meeting has added pressure after the draw against the Owls.
“We are still unbeaten here for many games, but we need a win on Saturday because after Millwall, we have two away games. Not to put a lot of pressure onto the game, but we need a 90-minute game like the second half here to get a result,” Cocu stated.
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