Cardiff City ratings at Derby as defender fantastic but star has tough outing

Derby and Cardiff share the spoils in six-goal thriller at Pride Park

Derby County and Cardiff City played out a 2-2 draw at Pride Park on Friday, with the home side twice coming from behind to secure a point. Carlton Morris and Bobby Clark scored for Derby, while Cardiff took the lead on two occasions through Cian Ashford and Yousef Salech.

Derby manager John Eustace expressed mixed feelings after the match. "I am obviously very happy that we never lost the game, but I'm disappointed we didn't win it," he said. "The two goals that we conceded again are just not at the level required, and that's two games in a row now that we've conceded two soft goals, which is really disappointing."

Eustace acknowledged his side's resilience but was critical of their quality in possession. "I can't fault the effort of the group. They have gone as hard as they can, and unfortunately, we just couldn't get the win," he added. "Cardiff are a really good footballing team and we knew they'd have lots of possession. In the second half, they didn't cause us any issues."

Derby created several opportunities in the opening period, with Corey Blackett-Taylor threatening on two occasions and Bobby Clark seeing an effort cleared off the line. Eustace praised his team's spirit but insisted they remain a work in progress. "To come back when you go one goal down and then 2-1 down shows there's great fighting and team spirit out there. There is lots more to come," he said.

Cardiff's makeshift defence holds firm

Cardiff were forced to field an improvised back line due to a defensive injury crisis, yet they showed "tremendous resilience" to earn the point, according to the South Wales Echo. Joel Bagan was named star man with a rating of 8, delivering an "excellent" performance at centre-half alongside Perry Ng, who stepped into an unfamiliar role. Nathan Trott made several important saves, including an early stop from Corey Blackett-Taylor and a crucial late denial of Lars Salvesen.

The Echo reported that Ronan Kpakio was at fault for the deflection that led to Derby's second goal, while Alex Robertson's set-piece delivery created Cardiff's opener. Jack Moylan was forced off with a thigh problem, though manager Brian Barry-Murphy later said it was a dead leg and he was expected to be fine.

Cian Ashford scored and was replaced shortly before the hour, while Yousef Salech smashed home Cardiff's second with a clinical finish. Substitutes Chris Willock, David Turnbull, Joel Colwill and Isaak Davies all contributed, with Willock adding energy and width, Turnbull making a defensive intervention, Colwill producing crucial late defensive work and Davies adding pace.

Barry-Murphy expects new signing before Norwich clash

Cardiff head coach Brian Barry-Murphy expects a new signing to arrive before Tuesday's Carabao Cup clash with Norwich City, as he admitted the club's defensive situation "cannot continue." The transfer window closes on September 1, and Barry-Murphy made his intentions clear after the Derby match.

"We obviously have four players injured at the moment who play in that position, so it's slightly unusual," he said. "But it is an area of the team that we're looking to improve anyway, so fingers crossed something will happen soon." Asked directly whether he expected a new arrival before Tuesday, he replied: "I would expect so."

Cardiff's defensive problems were laid bare at Pride Park. Gabriel Osho was unavailable after hyper-extending his knee in the 1-1 draw with Wrexham, Will Fish faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines, Dylan Lawlor remains unavailable, and Calum Chambers has not returned to training due to knee issues. Barry-Murphy said of Chambers: "Not so close, I don't think. I think he's not trained with us yet. Still has some issues with his knee so it's difficult to say."

The injury crisis left Cardiff with no choice but to improvise, with right-back Perry Ng and left-back Joel Bagan forming an unlikely centre-half pairing. Calum Scanlon completed his first full 90 minutes in about two and a half years.

Despite the difficult circumstances, Barry-Murphy said he was "proud and pleased" with the performance. He revealed he intended to attack rather than contain Derby, acknowledging that the home side have a "good manager" and that their quality made it difficult to defend. "We obviously had to change things around, but the players responded brilliantly," he said. "We treat every game with the intention of winning."

Cardiff host Norwich City at 7pm on Tuesday in the Carabao Cup.