Gary Rowett unconcerned about performance after Derby end winless run

A bullish Gary Rowett proclaimed he “couldn’t give a monkey’s” if Derby’s display in their 1-0 Easter Monday victory at Preston upset the purists.

The Rams ended their eight-game winless run with a crucial triumph over play-off rivals at Deepdale, and the ends fully justified the means for the Derby manager.

Alan Browne missed a first-half penalty for Preston before Tom Lawrence’s free-kick earned all three points for the Rams, who suffered a galling 4-1 loss to Sunderland on Good Friday.

Rowett said: “I couldn’t give a monkey’s if it didn’t look attractive. We tried to look attractive (against Sunderland) and ended up losing to the bottom team in the league.

“Hopefully this will give the players that little bit of breathing space to go and play with a bit more confidence.

“It’s sometimes harder to maintain the players’ belief when you know that you are a team capable of staying up near the top.

“We haven’t been far away but Friday looked as if we were a long way away, so I had to be a bit proactive.

“I had to do something different to see if that brought us a different bit of luck or a different performance.

“I just think psychologically today it was a huge result. For us, it didn’t matter how we got it or how ugly the performance was.”

Wales winger Lawrence provided the match-winning moment, with his free-kick flying over the wall before bouncing into the bottom corner from 25 yards.

Preston boss Alex Neil thought his goalkeeper could have done better, saying: “I don’t think Chris Maxwell should get beaten from that distance.”

Neil also pointed to Browne’s missed spot-kick in the first period, with the midfielder dusting himself down to try his luck from 12 yards after he went down in the area under the close attentions of Andre Wisdom, only to see his effort skew wide of the mark.

“Alan Browne is devastated because he thinks he’s let people down but the fact is without him, we would not be in the position we are in – I told him that,” said the Lilywhites chief.

“The players are gutted after the game. I have no complaints with my players.

“The one thing we are all disappointed by is that we didn’t show that little bit of quality at times. I couldn’t have asked for much more, though, from my team.”