Rotherham 3-3 Derby: Neil Warnock and Darren Wassall reaction
Saturday 12 March 2016 22:20, UK
Derby manager Darren Wassall condemned his side's late collapse against Rotherham on Saturday afternoon as 'inexcusable'.
The Rams looked to have their Sky Bet Championship meeting with the Millers sewn up as they coasted into a three-goal lead with just 10 minutes to play.
Tom Ince's brace and a Chris Martin tap-in - all in the space of 10 second-half minutes - had put Wassall's men in a position of command.
But the Millers, fighting for their lives at the wrong end of the division, are a different animal under Neil Warnock and they staged the unlikeliest of recoveries to earn a point with three goals in the final seven minutes.
Danny Ward got the ball rolling and then Leon Best scored his first two goals for the club, the second in time added on to steal a draw.
Understandably Wassall was not a happy man after the game.
"For 82 minutes I thought that was the best we have played all season," he said.
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"I asked for a reaction after QPR and we certainly got it. What happened after that was baffling, inexplicable, inexcusable and everybody connected with the football club is absolutely gutted.
"You feel like you have lost. With Rotherham's form we would have taken a point at the start of the game. But at 3-0 after 82 minutes you are expected to win the game.
"We need to work on our game management. We should be going home with all three points and we are going home with one in a very bad frame of mind.
"The fans were right to boo us off. They saw us dominate Rotherham for 80 minutes, we could have been 6-0 up we were that good."
Rotherham boss Warnock, who has delivered 10 points in the last four games to put his side right in the survival mix, has been around long enough to know that it was a stolen point and hailed the comeback as the result of the season.
"I can't think of another comeback as good as that, but I forget," he said.
"It's the sweetest because we were playing against a very good team and the players they have got and that's why I am enjoying the challenge.
"They will be going home thinking they have lost the game, you shouldn't concede three goals in the final 10 minutes.
"This is the result of the season, never mind the day. I don't think there will be another one like this. We were 3-0 down against Derby County, with the players they have got, and have got a point."
He added: "I don't know what I can say that I have not said before. I am so proud of them.
"If we had lost 3-0 I still would have said, 'Well done lads, I am proud of you for this week'. There would have been no rollockings today, they were just better than us.
"They have given me absolutely everything. When you see that camaraderie, you don't get that every often, it's great to see."
