Nat Phillips agrees with Wayne Rooney after Derby County 'dominated' Plymouth Argyle
Nat Phillips felt Derby County deserved more than a point from their frustrating 1-1 draw with Plymouth Argyle.
The defender, who was making his first start at Pride Park since joining on loan from Liverpool towards the end of the transfer window, turned in a strong display as the Rams had more possession and made far better use of it than Wayne Rooney’s Greens.
Indeed the hosts rained 20 shots down on the visitors’ goal, but only four of which were on target and as a result they had just one acrobatic Jerry Yates overhead kick to show for their efforts and Argyle were able to snatch a share of the spoils after Adam Randell’s deflected free-kick.
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All of which left Phillips and his team-mates feeling a little short-changed. “It felt like we dominated the game,” he told Rams TV. “It feels a little bit disappointing coming in now with only one point. It wasn't for a lack of trying. We did everything we could, kept knocking on the door and, unfortunately, it just wouldn't seem to go in at the end.
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“I don't think we could have done much more. We said as a group at half-time, we were pretty comfortable in the first half an hour and then maybe got a bit too comfortable. Perhaps we stopped doing the things that were getting us success. We worked extremely hard throughout, especially in the second half as well to keep going and keep pushing. It felt like we deserved more from the game and the three points, sometimes that’s just the way it goes.”
Even Argyle manager Rooney admitted his side was content with the draw. “We wanted to try and win the game, and I felt the game was there for us to do that,” he said.
“We were getting the ball down and moving it. We were getting into good areas, but we were a little bit wasteful and a little bit sloppy at times with that.
“Derby County's home form has been excellent this season, so we know it's a very difficult place to come. Going a goal down early on was really frustrating because we knew one of their big strengths is that they're the best in the league at scoring from set-pieces, so that was disappointing.
“I think, after that, we dug in on set-pieces and defended well. We had an element of control of the game at times. The last 20 minutes was difficult; we had to show really good character to hang in there and we've done that. Overall I'm pleased with the point.”