Wow. That was such a disappointing display. In fact, disappointing doesn’t come close and if I said what I really thought of it, I would be banned from writing this column ever again for excessive profanity (some may feel me that would be no bad thing).

I said last week after the Coventry City draw that I would be accused in some quarters of being a happy clapper, that I’d watched too much boring football over the last seven or eight seasons since the Steve Cotterill promotion side and that I was loving what I was watching. Being a football fan can be a fickle business but make no mistake, I wasn’t clapping happily or clapping much at all, and I certainly didn’t enjoy what I was watching.

The fact that we had a truly tremendous following and put in such an abject 70 minutes makes it even more galling. Our fans deserved so much better than they got and the stark contrast between the opening period and the way that we performed in the second-half was a concern.

With the news that Rob Dickie has been ruled out for a couple of months with a hamstring injury, and Luke McNally’s late transfer window signing, it was no surprise that Liam Manning opted to start with Kal Naismith alongside Zak Vyner at the heart of the defence. Losing Dickie is a real blow and so the McNally signing could prove to be an important one, especially with the way that we defended. The Rams scored three goals, but it could easily have been five or six had it not been for some wayward finishing and some good saves by Max O’Leary.