Fulham boss Slavisa Jokanovic was satisfied with his side’s performance, but believes his team needs to be more clinical in the box.
“We showed a great level. We played well, we created many chances, but the referee didn’t see two clear penalties,” said Jokanovic.
“We made one mistake. They scored a goal without making any dangerous situations in our box. After this, we created many things. I don’t know how many times we crossed the ball into the six-yard box, but we couldn’t find the solution for someone to put the ball into the net. We’re not clinical enough in the box.
“Generally, we created many chances without finding the benefit. We must stick with our style, we must move the ball, create chances and finish chances. We didn’t have many problems tonight - one mistake and we paid a big price.
“We showed confidence. I didn’t see my team playing without confidence. We are frustrated because we didn’t finish what we created. My team offered a good performance, we didn’t have many minutes of trouble against an experienced team like Derby. Winning always breeds confidence. We didn’t win tonight, but we offered many positive things and we have to be confident on Tuesday night.”
Fulham’s Head Coach handed a league debut to Fulham academy graduate Tayo Edun and is excited about the development of the young prospect, as well as the American Luca de la Torre.
“It’s also good news for England and the Fulham academy that we used Tayo today, who is a European champion with the youth England national team,” said Jokanovic.
“We also used Luca de la Torre, who is another young player who has been working with us for over a year. Both players showed they can play in this level. They didn’t play scared, and they impressed against one of the more experienced teams in the Championship. This can be important and exciting news for us.”