Why Paul Warne fumed as Hull City manager delivers X-rated Derby County response

Derby County stretched their unbeaten run in the Championship to four games as they secured a third successive draw with a point against Hull City.

The Rams had fallen behind in the second half when Xavier Simons scored a stunning 25-yard strike after a dour opening 45 minutes that provided little in the way of chances.

Derby head coach Paul Warne sent on Ben Osborn, Dajaune Brown and Corey Blackett-Taylor after Hull's opener and the changes paid dividends as Derby maintained their impressive home record at Pride Park.

They eventually drew level when Brown scored his first senior goal for the club when he sent a brilliant header looping over Ivor Pandur from Osborn's free-kick. Both sides tried to find a winner after that but nobody could find a breakthrough.

Here are all the talking points from the weekend....

An X-rated response

Having sacked Liam Rosenior at the end of last season despite just missing out on the playoffs, it underlines the expectations of being the manager at Hull City. Tim Walter was brought in as his replacement because his predecessor was not considered attacking enough. The German's renegade style is high-risk but capable of high reward. Playing 4-1-5 out of possession and boasting equal numbers in attack when they have the ball is brave with a capital B, although it has yet to yield consistent rewards.

Derby broke from their standard policy of pressing high which Warne explained after the game was a result of Hull using their goalkeeper as a spare man. Only when they were a few yards away did Warne encourage it which essentially asked Hull whether they had the quality to play through Derby. It was a tactic that was working and the stats tell us that Jacob Widell Zetterstrom only had four saves to make in the entire game.

Only one of those tested his reflexes, which came when Abu Kamara forced him into action in the second half. But what Derby's ploy could not legislate for was the brilliant 25-yard effort from Xavier Simons that flew into the bottom corner.

But what this Derby side may lack in technical prowess compared to some of their big-spending rivals is made up for in desire. And after three substitutions, Dajaune Brown came to the rescue with a brilliant header from Ben Osborn's free-kick.

Both teams had largely looked laboured but while Hull had all the ball, Derby had 14 shots compared to Hull's 11, six of which were blocked, five were off target and three flew in the direction of Ivor Pandur. Walter was rankled that his side had not done more with the ball, and when asked for his reflections, his response came before the watershed. His first word rhymed with ducked, and the second was off. Paul Warne, by contrast, was happy with the point after a performance that, in truth, was jaded. But it's four games unbeaten, and that impressive home record continues.

Warne incandescent

A week does not pass without an official making an odd decision, but in the second half, we were a goal away from uproar. When Charlie Hughes went down with a head injury on the edge of the box, Derby were in possession.

As is protocol, the referee stopped the game so Hughes could receive treatment, but instead of Hull graciously giving the ball back to Derby by booting it for the entire length of the pitch, Joao Pedro didn't read the memo. Hull attacked, and from the following phase of play, the ball went out for a goal kick. The fans were less than impressed, and Warne was too.

"I don't know if you saw me dancing the Irish jig then, but I was incandescent and disappointed," he said. "We had the ball, and their lad went down. I am always dubious when players go down from free kicks because if you hold your head, they always stop it even though you have the ball. It's harsh because the lad probably did get hit, I don't know.

"But the ref blew, and I thought we were getting the ball back because we had it. I spoke to the fourth official, and he said he agreed with me, but the ref said we were wrong. He gave it back to Hull which irritated me, it's fair to say."

Brown benefits from his loan

After scoring his first senior goal to rescue a point, Dajaune Brown's afternoon came to an abrupt end when an ankle injury forced him just a few minutes later. Thankfully it's not deemed to be serious in what proved to be a bittersweet afternoon.

There are high hopes for Brown, who is developing nicely and has reaped the benefits of his loan spell with Gateshead last season. Scoring 10 goals in 20 games and playing in a competitive league against imposing defenders has improved him significantly. His goal here will only lead to further calls for more minutes on the pitch, and Warne said he merited his entrance because of how well he had trained in midweek.

You can understand why the club intends to send more academy prospects on similar deals. Ben Radcliffe is going through a similar experience at Gateshead who are in the thick of a promotion chase from the National League. There is nothing better for a young player's development than playing games of senior football in games where the outcome matters. Brown is the poster boy for that.

Subs made a difference

After Simons had given Hull the lead, Warne's response was to turn to his substitutes bench which led to the introduction of Ben Osborn, Corey Blackett-Taylor and Brown. All you can ask is that they try to make a difference and all three certainly added some energy. Osborn's tigerishness was noticeable, Blackett-Taylor had some promising runs and Brown scored the equaliser.

There might have been some eyebrows raised when Kenzo Goudmijn, Jerry Yates and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing came off but all three looked tired and Derby will certainly benefit from not having a three-game week as they prepare for Stoke next weekend.

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