IRELAND AND DERBY County defender Richard Keogh could barely find the words to describe his side’s incredible comeback performance at Elland Road this evening.
Frank Lampard’s side came from 2-0 down to book their Championship play-off final spot with a 4-3 aggregate win over Leeds United.
Jack Marriott came off the bench to score twice for the visitors in a thrilling six-goal match which saw both sides finish with 10 men.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, the Derby captain was almost speechless by the magnitude of the team’s performance.
“Wow, what a game,” he said. “What a game. Listen, we knew coming into it that we had to go for it.
“When they get the goal and the ball ricochets back to them, you’re thinking it might not be our night.
“We get the goal and it brings us back in the game. To be honest we played great. Second half we were brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.
I thought we were the better team. To come here and score four goals, I think it speaks for itself. What a crazy night.”
Keogh appeared distraught after his missed clearance saw Leeds’ Stuart Dallas give the home side the lead on 25 minutes, but his agony turned to ecstasy after three second-half goals confirmed Derby will be heading to face Aston Villa in Wembley on 27 May.
“Goals change games. Maybe the nature of [Leeds first] goal a little bit, but we scored and that gave us confidence. We went in at half-time and smelt it.
We knew it. We’d spoken about it as a team. We all spoke about it. We said this is the night. These are the nights you want as a footballer, the last few weeks have shown us that.
“These are the moments you want. To come to a stadium like this and perform like that.
To be honest I think everyone wrote us off. I’m being totally honest. I think they wrote us off. They didn’t think we could do it. This is what it’s all about. To score four goals [...] it’s raised the bar now.
“These guys have been amazing. This season has been such a great journey with everyone. We’ve got one more game now against a great team in Villa and the run they’ve been on. Credit to Leeds, they’re a great team.
“They’ve proven to be a great team but anything can happen in football. It was our night tonight and we had it.”
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