Derby County 0-1 Millwall: Wayne Rooney will not solve all of Rams' problems - Phillip Cocu
- Published
Wayne Rooney (left) has joined Derby County as a player-coach under Phillip Cocu (right)
Derby County manager Phillip Cocu says the introduction of Wayne Rooney in January will not be enough on its own to arrest his side's poor form.
The Rams have scored just three goals in the past seven games and went down 1-0 at home to Millwall on Saturday.
Last season's play-off finalists are 16th in the Championship.
England's record goalscorer Rooney will be available at the turn of the year following his move from DC United.
"We can't think we get Wayne in January and everything will be fine, I don't think that's enough. We need more," Cocu said following the loss at Pride Park.
Derby were booed off by their home fans after they went a fifth game without a victory.
Tom Bradshaw scored for the first time in nine games for Millwall
Tom Bradshaw gave Millwall a deserved lead by heading a looping ball beyond Craig Forsyth and then blasting past goalkeeper Ben Hamer.
Jed Wallace had two good efforts before Bradshaw's goal, while Mahlon Romeo had a great chance to double the lead shortly after Millwall had gone ahead.
Tom Lawrence did put the ball in the net for Derby four minutes before the break, but it was disallowed for offside with a disjointed County showing a lack of cutting edge in attack and failing to have a single effort on target in the first 45 minutes.
After the break the Rams forced Millwall back and regularly tested their opponents, with Martyn Waghorn and Duane Holmes both creating good chances, but they were unable to find the net.
Waghorn had a penalty appeal turned down, but the Lions stood firm as Bartosz Bialkowski pulled off a fantastic save with 10 minutes to go, somehow tipping away Jayden Bogle's deflected effort to collect consecutive away wins at Derby for the first time since 1992.
The win sees Millwall move up to 11th place in the Championship while Derby are seven points behind the Lions and nine points off the play-off spots.
Flags at Derby were at half-mast in memory of former manager Jim Smith, who died earlier in the week. The match began with a minute's applause as Millwall manager Gary Rowett joined other former Rams players and managers in the centre circle to pay tribute to the 79-year-old, who was in charge of the club between 1995 and 2001.
Cocu added: "In the first half we played a little too direct and that's what Millwall like - we had opportunities to play from the back because they didn't press and we didn't have the courage to do so.
"The second half we were a different team and had that courage to play.
"But we've struggled all season with finding the net and when you have so many crosses and corners you have to find the net to turn these games around, at the moment that's a big issue."
Millwall boss Gary Rowett told BBC Radio London:
"That's four away games where we've won three and drawn one. Very tough conditions against very difficult opponents, I think the team have shown what we're about.
"When the players needed to dig in, show their grit and resolve, they did. We limited them to one shot on target, against this kind of side that's brilliant.
"We didn't need luck today Derby didn't have many chances. We made it very difficult for them."
