John Eustace’s Derby County side scored late to deny Bristol City a second away win of the season at Pride Park on Friday nightJohn Eustace and Derby County drew 1-1 with Bristol City at Pride Park(Image: EFL)

Other than Scott Twine’s goal and late free-kick, Derby County boss John Eustace has claimed that he didn’t feel Bristol City caused his side “any problems” during the Rams’ draw with the Robins at Pride Park.

Gerhard Struber’s Reds were left frustrated as they conceded late on to drop points in a 1-1 draw in front of the Sky Sports cameras on Friday night, with Carlton Morris’ third goal of the campaign cancelling out Scott Twine’s first-half opener.

City’s attacking midfielder broke the deadlock after 35 minutes when he finished off a counter-attack with a calm right-footed finish into the bottom right corner from the edge of the box. The 26-year-old’s third of the season looked like it would be enough for the Robins to register back-to-back away wins, until Morris snuck home a leveller from close range with just four minutes of regulation time to play.

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Having spurned chances to kill the game off earlier in the second half, Struber’s side were handed a lifeline when they were awarded a free kick in injury time. In trademark fashion, Twine whipped a shot towards the top right corner, only for Jacob Zetterstrom to somehow claw away from danger.

Although it was the Reds who came closest to snatching all three points, Eustace felt his team managed to keep City’s attacking talent at bay for the majority of the contest.

“It’s about the squad, it’s about 46 games, not three games, and we’re delighted to get a point,” the Derby boss told the Rams’ media team after the full-time whistle. “We would have liked all three. I don’t think Bristol caused us any problems at all, apart from the free-kick at the end and their goal, which could have been stopped.

“So the first half an hour is really positive. When you’ve lost two games in a row and you go a goal down, it’s always difficult from a confidence point of view, but this group we never give up, they’ll keep going, and it’s a really good thing to have.”

“I thought first half an hour, I thought we were excellent,” Eustace continued in his post-match press conference. “I think we have to remember that we’re off the back of two defeats, which isn’t easy, and then we you go a goal down, you know it’s always going to be very difficult.

“For the last 15 minutes of the first half, we lost our way a little bit, which is understandable. Then second half, they frustrated us, and I thought the changes we made were all very positive, and we deserved at least a point out of the game.”

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Twine’s first-half strike came at the end of a smart counter-attacking move, with the passage of play initially beginning with a Ross McCrorie throw-in on the halfway line. After a one-two with Jason Knight, the Scotsman fed the ball into the feet of Adam Randell, who turned out before passing across the pitch to Mark Sykes.

With plenty of space to dribble into, Sykes took two touches before rolling into the feet of Twine, who had drifted onto the edge of the box unmarked. After setting himself with his first touch, the former Burnley man confidently rolled into the bottom corner before racing away to celebrate with the away supporters.

The move earned praise from Struber, who felt it represented the sort of football he wants his side to play in possession. Eustace, on the other hand, was less than pleased with the manner in which his players dealt with the initial danger.

“Yeah, for sure,” the Rams head coach admitted when asked if the manner of Twine’s opener had disappointed him. “It came from a throw-in, so we’ve all got our individual jobs to do from throw-ins, and we switched off, which allowed them to get out, which is disappointing and something that we have to learn from.

“Obviously, they’ve scored a quality goal.”

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