Derby 1 – 1 Coventry

Wayne Rooney suffered further frustration when Derby was denied victory by a goal in injury time that earned Coventry a 1-1 draw in the Sky Bet Championship at Pride Park.

Colin Kazim-Richards’ first goal for Derby appeared to have given Rooney the victory in his second game as interim manager, but Gustavo Hamer fired from the edge of the area to give Coventry a well-deserved point.

It leaves Derby without a home championship win this season and remains at the bottom of the table, four points from safety.

Rooney, who admitted he is still awaiting a decision on his future as a coach, reacted to Saturday’s draw with Wycombe making five changes, but it was Coventry who came closest to taking an early lead.

Tyler Walker brought the Derby down just in the 11th minute and threw a dangerous cross that Callum O’Hare simply couldn’t connect to when he reached the back post.

Derby’s defense was caught by a long ball seven minutes later, but Jordan Shipley couldn’t get enough power from his header to upset goalkeeper David Marshall.

It was 30 minutes before Derby created an opportunity with Kazim-Richards spinning away from a defender, but he shot Ben Wilson and deflected.

An error by Matt Clarke three minutes later put O’Hare inside, but he stumbled around Marshall and the ball rolled off the side.

Derby was getting into some threatening positions down the right and they had a great opportunity just before the break when Max Bird hit a low cross, but his shot was too close to Wilson, who flipped it back for a corner.

Both teams had shown a lot of intention and there were chances at both ends early in the second half with Derby convinced they should have taken a penalty.

Tom Lawrence burst into the area and fell under a challenge, but referee Dean Whitestone kept the game going.

Kazim-Richards headed in more than a minute later, but Coventry had a good chance just after the hour mark when O’Hare looked at a deflected header.

Derby’s best moments came when the ball was deflected and when Jason Knight threw from the right, Lawrence couldn’t keep up his shot as the ball broke 15 yards away.

Coventry headed well, but a poor clearance in the 80th minute allowed Lawrence to shoot from the edge of the area, but it went straight to Wilson.

Just when it looked like Derby would be frustrated again, Kazim-Richards broke the deadlock in the 83rd minute when he squeezed a header past Wilson after a cross from Nathan Bryne.

Jack Stretton should have finished it, but he hit the top of the crossbar and Coventry took advantage when Hamer fired a low shot on Marshall after a cross was only half cleared to share the loot.

Rooney awaits management decision

Derby’s Wayne Rooney: “I honestly don’t know (if I will be in charge), as I said, I have confidence in this job and in this role and of course I would love to do the job. If not, I will be here as a player, but we have put plans in place and if not, at least players have the stability of knowing the plans for the next few weeks and may have something to work on. Hopefully the faster the new property is done the better because I think a decision needs to be made.

“I have been asked to take the team until a decision is made and that is what I am doing, so the faster the decision is made, not only for the players but for all the football club staff, the more stability we can “. get and more plans for the future. “

Robins praises the attitude

Coventry Mark Robins: “I don’t think we played particularly well, but there is a never-dying attitude, the togetherness and camaraderie from last season are there, you can see it growing. I don’t think players across the country will get enough credit in this pandemic. .

“The levels are outstanding considering that you have your training, travel, matches that come every three days, many injuries, young players entering and the levels they are reaching should be applauded. I think you can forgive them for bad performances from time to time. from time to time, but reaching the levels they are at is exceptional. “