Nigel Adkins aims to keep Scunthorpe's strike-force together as Nigel Clough lamented Derby's defending.
Clough unhappy with Derby's defending
Nigel Adkins is hoping to keep Scunthorpe United's strike-force together as Derby County boss Nigel Clough lamented his team's defending in the 3-2 defeat at Glanford Park.
Gary Hooper scored twice in the first half and was aided by Paul Hayes in tormenting the opposition defence.
Iron chief Adkins was delighted with the duo's performance and hopes there will be no bids for the players before the transfer window closes.
Adkins said: "I thought Paul Hayes and Gary Hooper were a massive threat all the way through.
"The team complements them and it's great we have ammunition from quality midfielders who can pass the ball and we are trying to keep that as strong as possible, they have all got to complement each other."
Adkins fears the performance of his strike duo could make it hard to keep hold of them in the transfer window.
He added: "It's not long before the transfer deadline so it will be an interesting time. I must admit, you look at Hayes and Hooper there today, there is bound to be people banging on the door after that performance."
Rams boss Clough felt his players were naive in pressing for the victory in an improved second-half showing.
He said: "We've come back from 1-0 down and 2-1 down, then we should be protecting the point that we've got.
"We have got experienced players out there who are thinking of going on and winning the game instead of ensuring we didn't lose.
"We are disappointed with the manner in which the back four failed to deal with them (Hooper and Hayes). We just didn't deal with it well enough, we were on the back foot, didn't get tight and it's caused us problems."
He added: "The fact we're scoring goals is always a good sign, but the problem we've got is that it shouldn't be at the expense of conceding at the other end."
