Saturday 11 August 2018 21:24, UK
Derby County manager Frank Lampard admits his side were taught a lesson after Leeds United cruised to a 4-1 victory at Pride Park on Saturday.
Lampard made the perfect start to life in the Sky Bet Championship last weekend with a late win at Reading, but the Rams were well beaten by Marcelo Bielsa's side as Kemar Roofe scored twice in a convincing away win.
Tom Lawrence temporarily drew Derby level with a vicious free-kick which cancelled out Mateusz Klich's opener, but by the time Ezgjan Alioski added a fourth, Lampard was under no illusions about the size of the task he faces at the East Midlands club.
"It's a reality check," he told Sky Sports. "We were really good in pre-season, and I kept saying it means nothing.
"We won last week in a tight game with some good stuff, but maybe we think the results in pre-season mean we were going to perform today and it doesn't. Every game we need to improve, and what better than looking back at this game, because there's plenty to look at.
"We can't be too depressed and too heads down as the games come thick and fast. We must learn from this and improve.
"The warnings were there, but we didn't react to them. It was 4-1 with 20 minutes to go, so I was looking to see the reaction. It was a real test for us in all senses."
Lampard admits that his players can't afford to dwell on the resounding loss, with Derby back in action on Tuesday at Oldham Athletic in the Carabao Cup first round before they travel to face Millwall at The Den next weekend.
The former Chelsea midfielder conceded his team stopped playing their natural game early in the contest and he claimed all four of Leeds' goals were the result of mistakes.
But Lampard believes such a chastening defeat can be turned into a positive, adding: "We were beaten all ends up and it's good lessons for us all. There's lessons for all of us to improve, getting beaten comfortably.
"Mistakes will cost you and pretty much all the goals were mistakes to a degree. We will have to go away and look at it. It's not nice in the first home game of the season, these results will happen, but it's the performance that we can't allow to happen, and that's something we must address."
