Shaun Derry reflects on the 4-1 defeat away to MK Dons on Saturday...
Notts County Manager Shaun Derry bemoaned individual mistakes for his side’s 4-1 defeat away to MK Dons on Saturday and admitted that this has been the case too often this season.
Having battled resolutely to keep high-flying MK Dons at bay for over an hour, Notts conceded four goals in the final 30 minutes of the game, scoring once in reply, and Derry was disappointed with the manner in which his side had gifted opportunities to their opponents.
“The gameplan went to script for the first half,” Derry said after the game. “We looked as if we were going to come out in the second half with a vibrancy to try and get something out of the game, to stay in the game, to get something out of the game.
“Again, individual mistakes have cost us dearly and I can’t stand here again and make excuses, because they’ve been happening for too long now and ultimately, at the end of the day, you get judged and I have to judge them in there honestly and say that that’s not good enough.
“I think collectively, as a team performance, there was some positives. We had four or five good chances in the game, against a very, very good team, who are having a fantastic season, really powerful at home especially, with some good players, yet we still had five very good chances,” he added.
“Five very good chances away gets you points, but not when you defend like that, as a team. I’m not blaming the back four, I’m blaming the team as a whole, as individual errors.”
“Everybody will watch the game tonight on television and I don’t think it takes much of an expert in football to look where the mistakes came from, we were wide open at the back.
“Having scored our goal to get us back in the game at 2-1, I always stress to them try and manage the game when you’ve got your goal, don’t concede too quickly. Two, three, four minutes later, 3-1 down, game over.”
Now just outside the relegation zone in the Sky Bet League 1 table, above Crewe Alexandra only on goal difference, Derry knows that his side need to turn things around sooner rather than later if they are to get themselves out of trouble this season.
He added: “To go into the final nine games, this is it, I said after the game on Tuesday night, we’re in a relegation scrap and that’s where we are and I’m determined to get out of it, absolutely.”
Subscribers can watch the full post-match interview with Shaun Derry on Magpie Player.