Derby County’s mauling by arch-rivals Nottingham Forest on Tuesday night left the Rams feeling hurt and despondent.
That’s according to former player Craig Ramage who was at the City Ground to see his old club given the run-around by Forest, a result and more importantly, a performance which he found deeply troubling.
Rams boss Phillip Cocu opted to make 10 changes to the side which drew 1-1 with West Brom on Saturday, while his opposite number Sabri Lamouchi made eight from the team which won so impressively at Fulham.
“Derby County missed an opportunity against Nottingham Forest, and that is what disappointed me most,” Ramage wrote in his Derbyshire Live column.
“The Carabao Cup tie should have been used as a platform on which to build following the draw with West Bromwich Albion and for the next game against Brentford.
“Instead, there is despondency after leaving the City Ground having been well beaten 3-0 by our rivals.”
Cocu made sweeping changes to his team for the first round win at League Two strugglers Scunthorpe, but Ramage feels the Dutchman should have taken the game at Forest more seriously.
“I know we made lots of changes to the team for our first-round tie at Scunthorpe, but they are bottom of League Two and in a bit of a mess.
“But when you get drawn against Forest, it's different,” he said.
“It does not matter if it is in the League, the Carabao Cup or the Bass Charity Vase, we are playing Nottingham Forest.
“That is why 3,300 Rams fans turned up on Tuesday night.”
Despite the wholesale changes, Lamouchi was still able to field a side with a lower average age than that of the Rams, and they dominated the game from start to finish.
Goals from Albert Adomah, Joe Lolley and Joao Carvalho were enough to see off Derby, who failed to muster a single shot on Brice Samba’s goal.
Despite the amount of changes both sides made, Ramage believes Forest’s strength in depth was evident, and Cocu’s approach hurt their travelling supporters.
“What they saw was 10 changes to the team and a poor performance.
“Forest dominated us.
"We huffed and puffed, but had no shots on target. We saw the difference in depth of quality of the two squads.
“Being a Derby lad, that hurt, and it will have hurt fans.
“They paid good money to go and watch their team and fans I have spoken to felt let down.”
