Paul Warne felt that the referee got it wrong to allow Stoke City their second, decisive goal in their win over Derby County.
Tom Cannon scored from the spot nine minutes into the game and The Potters kept dominating for much of the contest. However The Rams were the next to draw blood thanks to an error from Viktor Johansson from a routine header back to him from Ben Gibson.
It was the defender that sealed the three points for Narcis Pelach’s side after scoring a header from a corner, but Warne disagreed with the decision not to award a foul on Nat Phillips during the play.
“I Don’t Expect Anyone Will Be Surprised”
Speaking to BBC Radio Derby, the former Rotherham United boss said:
“I am so disappointed with the second goal. I don’t expect anyone will be surprised to hear me say I think it is a foul.
“But, if you run flat out into the front zone man, to knock him out of the way and you score in the front zone, then I’m going to be disappointed.
“But I don’t think we played well enough in the entirety to merit any points. At 1-1 I thought we were going to win it.
“Even the Stoke fans thought it, that we might get a goal sooner or later. We tried to make attacking substitutions, and I’m an optimist. But, if you don’t play well enough, you possibly don’t get anything out of the game.”
Derby slipped down to 14th in the Championship table, with Millwall, Swansea City and their next opponents Coventry City all leapfrogging them with wins. The win for Stoke now puts them level on points with County.
Writer’s View
Paul Warne does have some right to feel aggrieved for that decision. Junior Tchamedeu does push Nat Phillips out of the way to allow the ball to fall into the mixer for Ben Gibson to prod home. However, Phillips does make the most of the contact and his fall is overdramatic. But as the Derby County boss said the game was lost with the failure to seize their chances whilst it was 1-1 and City did deserve the points on the day.
Football journalist with The Real EFL since 2023. A 2024 Multimedia Journalism graduate from the University of Salford, Lewis specialises in Salford City FC and EFL coverage.
