Carlton Morris admitted he and his Derby County team-mates needed to “take accountability” for their defeat at Oxford as their sluggish start to the Championship season continued.
Derby lost 1-0 at the Kassam Stadium where Stan Mills’ goal in the first half was enough to seal victory as Us boss Gary Rowett savoured a much-needed win over his old club.
But the tight scoreline did not tell the full story as inspired goalkeeping from Derby’s Jacob Widell Zetterstrom and wasteful finishing stopped Oxford from running riot.
The result meant they leapfrogged Derby in the table with the Rams having won just once in the league this season and they sit just above the bottom three.
And Morris said the players had to take responsibility for the defeat which saw Derby manage just one shot on target.
“It was proper disappointing if I’m being brutally honest,” he said. “The lads won’t mind me saying this, but we need to take accountability as players.
“The first half was really poor and was not to the standard that we’ve set ourselves at times this season.
“You’re not going to play your best every week. We can accept that, but we didn’t play well, and we came away with no points.
“The huge thing now is that I back the lads in that dressing room and the character to go and bounce back Tuesday night against Norwich.
“It’s a three-game week, and it’s not over just because we’ve had a poor result and a poor performance.
“Tuesday is bounce-back night.”
Derby have conceded first in eight of their league games this season and Morris added: “It’s becoming a bit of an uphill battle and it’s strange because we start games relatively well.
“It’s just about getting that first goal when we are on top. We’ve got to go and be more ruthless.”
