Derby County boss Steve McClaren said Chelsea’s ruthlessness was the difference between the sides in their Capital One Cup tie.
The Blues earned 3-1 victory at the iPro Stadium thanks to goals from Eden Hazard, Filipe Luis and Andre Schurrle.
But McClaren, whose side are third in the Championship, was impressed by their efforts against the Premier League leaders.
“I am so proud of the players. We were nervous at the beginning but we grew in performance and into the game,” McClaren said.
“There weren’t many chances and we restricted Chelsea to very few opportunities, but they were clinical with the chances they had and that’s the difference and why they are one of the best teams in. Europe.”
And the former England boss felt the dismissal off Jake Buxton for tugging back Loic Remy – soon after Craig Bryson had scored to make it 2-1 – denied the Rams the chance of a fightback.
“We couldn’t believe it Bucko was sent off,” he added. “It was a huge surprise. It was a poor decision that robbed us.
“You saw from the team they had out that they had huge respect for us. The last 15 minutes could have been interesting.”
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This post was last modified on 17/12/2014