Paul Warne felt his Derby County team were worth at least a point at Sheffield Wednesday but paid the price for a lack of ruthlessness as the Owls secured a 4-2 win at Hillsborough.
The Rams were behind inside 10 minutes when Barry Bannan tapped in but had chances to level through Kane Wilson, Nat Phillips and Jerry Yates hit the post.
But a Josh Windass wondergoal – a 70-yard lob – put Wednesday further in front before Djeidi Gassama made it three. Yates did score from a Nathaniel Mendez-Laing cross but Anthony Musamba scored a fourth before Ebou Adams hit a late reply.
Asked for his assessment after the game, Derby head coach Warne said: “I am disappointed really because I thought my lads performed well enough to take at least a point,” he said. “I thought, in my head, we had the majority of the ball and we created enough chances to win one or two games.
“We just weren’t clinical enough in the final third and Sheffield Wednesday were. They scored a screamer, they scored a counter-attack goal in which their pace got away from the backline.
“That’s what is disappointing because we normally not that loose at the back, but the opposition make it difficult for you. I was proud of a lot of our play and to score two goals away from home and still lose is disappointing.
“I thought the game started a bit slow but once we got a grip of midfield I thought we were handsome. We created problems off set-pieces but for whatever reason, it just wouldn’t go in that end.”
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