Derby boss Nigel Clough was unhappy with his keeper, while Bristol City Keith Millen hailed his custodian.
Tale of two keepers for rivals bosses
Derby boss Nigel Clough was unhappy with his goalkeeper, while Bristol City Keith Millen hailed his custodian after the win at Pride Park.
Rams chief Clough was disappointed after loan signing Brad Jones' mistake set City on their way to a 2-0 win in Derby's final home game of the season.
Jones, who is on loan from Liverpool, somehow allowed a Jon Stead shot to squirm under his body before Cole Skuse's second-half strike secured a win for the Robins.
"We would have liked a performance more like those before Christmas or in the last few weeks but the goalkeeping error demoralised us to a certain degree," admitted Clough.
"Their goalkeeper has made two or three very good saves and ours has cost us the first goal which has happened in seven or eight of the home games this season. It's strange that the majority of errors in that position have been at home.
Lethargic
"I thought we were a little bit lethargic at times, not much energy which is understandable in some ways when we are safe, but as much as anything emphasises and probably highlights the need for us to get some players in which we have talked about in the last few weeks."
The defeat marked an unhappy end to Robbie Savage's career at Pride Park.
The veteran midfielder will leave the club at the end of the season and is expected to retire, but Clough hailed the impact of his captain on County's battle against the drop.
"Unfortunately we have just seen a couple of teams relegated like Sheffield United, who are maybe a similar club to ourselves," added Clough.
"We've managed to escape that, which we don't deserve too much credit for, and Robbie's played a part in that keeping our heads above water.
"We will have a go at it (replacing Savage)."
Praise
By contrast, Bristol City counterpart Millen had nothing but praise for his shot-stopper Dean Gerken after he was given a rare start in place of David James.
"We know Dean (Gerken) is a terrific keeper, he's had to play second fiddle to David James for the whole season and he keeps his head down and works hard so I had no worries about him producing a performance and he did," noted Millen.
"I was really pleased he kept a clean sheet.
"David understood, him and Dean get on really well, they work well together in training. He was disappointed he was missing his first league game this year, he's proud of that record but he also understood that Dean deserved a game today. It's great for me I'm in a position where I've got such great goalkeepers at the club.
"We've conceded too many goals, but that's 14 defenders I've used this season which shows it's very difficult to be consistent defending when you have to make that many changes so hopefully we will be luckier with injuries next year."
