Eustace: Rams a 'little bit light' in loss to the U's

JOHN Eustace admitted Derby County endured a bad day at the office against Oxford United - and revealed captain Lewis Travis will be out for six weeks with a calf strain.

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Derby lost 1-0 at the Kassam Stadium as Stan Mills’ first-half goal proved the winner and Gary Rowett’s side would have inflicted further damage had it not been for goalkeeper Jacob Widell Zetterstrom.

The result meant that the U’s leapfrogged the Rams in the Championship on a day when Travis was absent from the starting 11 due to injury. He will miss the next six weeks of action leaving the Rams with a midfield of Ebou Adams, David Ozoh and Liam Thompson, although the latter is currently sidelined with a knee injury.

Speaking after the game, Rams head coach Eustace said: “Thommo’s injured at the moment, obviously, so it’s not ideal.

“Trav is going to be out for six weeks because he’s got a calf strain.

“I think it was evident we were a little bit light in there at times today.

“But we need to sustain attacks and keep the ball in the final third better. The front players today worked hard but lacked that bit of quality.

“We're working very hard on the training pitch. We’ve got to get players who are available to train to be available for selection every day, every game.