Sunday Mar 23 2008 15:05
Derby County boss Paul Jewell was pleased with his side's second-half display in Saturday's narrow 1-0 defeat at Middlesbrough.
However, Jewell was disappointed with the Rams' performance in the opening 45 minutes, particularly after last weekend's narrow defeat against Manchester United.
Jewell said: "If we'd put in the performance we showed last week against United I think we might have got something out of the game - but if you perform like that in the first half you don't win matches.
"In the second half we actually looked like we could deal with a football. Hossam Ghaly was a big influence for us. But we just didn't have that killer instinct - and you need that to go with your play.
"It's the story of our season. We did really well against Manchester United and tried to take it into the game today - but we just can't put two performances together.
"We had that golden opportunity right at the end, and that's the difference. Teams at the top kill you in a situation like that. But we haven't scored enough, and if you let in too many as well it is a recipe for relegation."
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