Derby County 1-2 Reading: Steve McClaren describes team as 'heroic' despite FA Cup defeat
Saturday 14 February 2015 19:41, UK
Steve McClaren has described his promotion-chasing Derby side as "absolutely heroic" despite losing in the FA Cup to a late goal from Reading's Ayegbeni Yakubu – a player he signed while Middlesbrough boss.
County played over 50 minutes of the fifth-round tie at the iPro Stadium on Saturday with 10 men after Stephen Warnock was sent off for a second yellow card, but they still gave Reading a competitive game.
McClaren said: "The way we continued to set about a good Reading side in such a positive way made me very proud.
"You can hardly expect to win a game when you are down to 10 for 50 minutes. It's well-nigh impossible but, my word, we had a terrific crack at it.”
McClaren’s team had gone behind to a Hal Robson-Kanu goal but on loan striker Darren Bent levelled for the home side, until Yakubu struck eight minutes from time to send Reading through to the quarter-finals.
He added: "We didn't want a replay. We didn't want any more on our plate. We wanted to win at the first attempt and we couldn't have shown more willingness to have a real go at it.
The Rams will concentrate on the Championship now as they attempt to gain promotion to the Premier League, seven years after they were relegated with a record low of 11 points.
They are currently third in the Championship, one point behind joint leaders Bournemouth and Middlesbrough.
