Leeds gave Derby a reality check, says Frank Lampard

Derby County manager Frank Lampard says his side were given a “reality check” after their 1-4 defeat at the hands of Championship rivals Leeds United.

Lampard, 40, was appointed as The Rams’ new head coach in May which marked his foray into management following an illustrious 21-year playing career.

Heading into the 2018/19 season many tipped Derby for promotion to the Premier League, and despite a promising start Lampard isn’t getting carried away, which their humbling against Marcelo Bielsa’s side proved.

“It’s a reality check,” he told Sky Sports. “We were really good in pre-season, and I kept saying it means nothing.

“We won last week in a tight game with some good stuff, but maybe we think the results in pre-season mean we were going to perform today and it doesn’t. Every game we need to improve, and what better than looking back at this game, because there’s plenty to look at.

“We can’t be too depressed and too heads down as the games come thick and fast. We must learn from this and improve.

“The warnings were there, but we didn’t react to them. It was 4-1 with 20 minutes to go, so I was looking to see the reaction. It was a real test for us in all senses.”

A first defeat

Derby left it late away to Reading in Lampard’s competitive debut as manager but there were no heroics when Leeds visited Pride Park.

Mateusz Klich had given the visitors an early lead, before it was cancelled out by Tom Lawrence, bagging his second goal of the season after his 90th-minute strike gave Lampard’s men all three points at the Madejski a week ago.

But it was then all Leeds as Bielsa’s charges ran riot. Kemar Roofe grabbed a brace and Ezgjan Alioski added their fourth of the game.

Next up for Derby is a trip to Oldham Athletic on August 14 whilst Leeds and their perfect record welcome Bolton on the same evening.

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