Oxford boss Gary Rowett praises Brian De Keersmaecker after win over Derby

Oxford boss Gary Rowett saluted the part played by midfielder Brian De Keersmaecker in the 1-0 win over Derby.

De Keersmaecker’s brilliant pass set up right winger Stan Mills to score his first goal of the season as the U’s chalked up a first home win in the Championship this campaign.

Rowett said: “Stan was excellent. We felt we could cause them a problem down that side. But it was a brilliantly weighted pass from Brian for the goal – he fires it into Stan’s path.

“We were outstanding in the first half and created countless chances. We should have been well away on the scoreline but when you don’t take those opportunities after such a dominant spell on the ball, you always leave the door open.

“Derby didn’t create lots of chances but they made it difficult for us to get out.

“Late on, we might have nicked a goal in a counter-attack or in transition, and I would have liked us to have had that bit more control.

“Maybe that’s me being greedy but what I’m pleased about is that we’ve finally won a game that we actually deserved to win.

“We’ve deserved to win loads of times and ended up losing those games.

“It was an excellent performance. We moved the ball really well, we moved the ball through them and around them and created lots of good opportunities – 19 shots and they’ve had six shots with one on target. That tells you the story of the game.

“It was an important win for us. Those three points give you that real springboard to go from here.”

Derby head coach John Eustace said: “We didn’t deserve to get anything out of today. We got in some really good areas but lacked that bit of quality.

“We started OK but then we lost our way. We huffed and puffed – we were second best. It was not about tactics today, just about losing too many duels and not being aggressive enough.

“We have to take into consideration that we had to change a couple coming back from long journeys.

“They tried their hardest but we just lacked that bit of leadership and know-how in there, and it was just too easy for them to break through us.

“Defensively we didn’t lock in, we weren’t aggressive enough on the turnovers.

“We’re working very hard on the training pitch, we’ve got to get players who are available to train and be available for selection every game, and I’m confident the wins will come.

“Performances overall have been good, today wasn’t a good day at the office, so there’s a lot of hard work ahead, and that starts on Monday.

“I’m just disappointed with the way we lost the game. I know we’re not the finished article going forward, but I wasn’t expecting us to lose so many duels today.”