Derby County Head Coach Paul Warne says he is 'delighted' to be in the Third Round of the Emirates FA Cup - despite a first-half performance he was less than happy with in their 2-1 victory against Newport County.
The Rams fell behind to Sky Bet League Two opposition at Rodney Parade but were able to turn things around after the break and put themselves in the hat for Monday night's draw following goals from Louie Sibley and David McGoldrick.
Speaking to RamsTV after the final whistle, Warne reflected on a hard-fought win in Wales.
On the game...
We knew beforehand that it was going to be a tough afternoon. We warned the lads about how Newport play, how hard they work and how difficult they are to play against. To concede off a set-piece is a disappointment and our first-half performance overall was disappointing. It was too slow; nobody took a risk going forwards. I thought our two centre-forwards worked really hard but got absolutely nothing.
We spoke to the lads at half-time, changed the system and asked them to be a bit braver and they were. In the end I think we deserved it, we created enough chances to win comfortably. We're in the next round and now destined for another away game!
On the second-half performance...
We just showed more pace. We took people on and showed more bravery.
Whatever system we play we should be able to run past people and cross the ball. We should be better as a group, I'm part of the group and first-half we just weren't really at it.
On the squad's character...
The lads kept going and kept creating chances. Sibs scored a great goal but we missed a lot easier chances than that.
I thought we produced enough in the second-half to win and we just had a bit more urgency in our display.
We, as a coaching staff, have to drive performance. If we win or lose and sometimes the opposition are better then that's fair enough, but our first-half performance wasn't a team that deserved to win and the second-half one was.
On the fans...
In fairness to the fans, that is some effort from them this month. I met someone with a crazy hat today and it's lucky hat - so I've told him he's got to wear that forever more! I sincerely thank them for coming down, especially when it's on TV and on a Sunday.
We need them even more so when we aren't playing great and in the first-half we weren't great.
On the return to Pride Park next week against Sheffield Wednesday...
The bigger the game, the better. Sheffield Wednesday will come to our place wanting to win and that will suit us. I think it will be a blow-for-blow game. They are the sort of matches I want to be involved in, they are exciting ones.
I'd like to think it will be a good game, a good crowd and something hopefully we can make a memory for the Derby fans.
Hopefully we'll have a couple of players back this week, Curtis Davies, Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and Haydon Roberts are doing really well and they will just strengthen our group if they can return.
