Saturday 13 August 2016 21:50, UK
Nigel Pearson expects his Derby side to turn things around after they slipped to a 2-0 defeat against Sky Bet Championship newcomers Barnsley.
The Tykes took an early first-half lead after Conor Hourihane's first-time strike from the edge of the area struck a post and rebounded into the net off the back of diving goalkeeper Scott Carson.
Alfie Mawson doubled Barnsley's lead almost immediately after half-time, rising highest from Hourihane's in-swinging free-kick to nod the ball under Carson.
Derby created few chances throughout, with Tom Ince and substitute Johnny Russell coming closest, but both saw shots saved by Adam Davies in the Barnsley goal.
Pearson said: "There are a few psychological issues to address in the sense that we've got a few players who are out of form and they've got to try and find a way back into form.
"I've got to manage the players through that process. It's never easy and people have their own opinions on things but what we'll do is get back to work and try and rectify what has been a difficult and disappointing afternoon.
"We don't like it when we've got a good following and we let our fans down but more importantly we don't want to let ourselves down and we've done that here.
"It's my team and it's my job to rectify that and I will do that.
"People have different ideas of formations and style of play but if you look at the side we had out there today, I could easily have played two or three different formations. It's difficult because of changes for the new season."
Barnsley head coach Paul Heckingbottom said: "Everyone can see the energy and the hard work that the players put in.
"We started both halves really well, got the goals at key times and defended stoutly throughout.
"It was a deserved win and we'll take a lot of belief and confidence from it.
"We know we might play like that in some games and get beaten but hopefully with the quality we've got we can cause teams problems.
"I thought we dealt with them well, they've got really good players and we coped with them pretty well.
"I thought in both boxes we were much better than last week. We took our chances and were ruthless with how we defended our own box.
"Last season we had a really good winning mentality. That's what we needed to show in this game and we did. It was a good example of what it takes to win a game of football in this division.
"I hope the fans enjoyed it and appreciated just how much effort the boys put in."
