Derby County owner defends dressing-room rant

Derby County owner Mel Morris has insisted that he has no regrets over entering the dressing room to admonish players after a recent game.

Morris is reported to have launched into a rant after the 1-1 draw with Reading on January 12, weeks before he decided to sack head coach Paul Clement following a winless run of seven games.

Players were told that their warm-weather training camp in Dubai had been cancelled, with Morris saying: "You're not training in the sun, you're training in the mud."

Speaking to reporters at a press conference on Tuesday, Morris explained: "I felt that game was probably an example of what we don't want to see from a Derby side. That game we struggled to put two passes together.

"My fear was at the end of the game there could be a lot of finger-pointing. My view was rather than coaches and players having a go at each other, I will become the grizzly bear and put everyone on the carpet for it. I don't regret that, I think it was necessary to do that.

"It is always a regret that anything that happens in the changing room gets outside and sometimes that is a measure of the fact that maybe things aren't quite as united as you would like them to be."

The Rams currently sit fifth in the Championship, five points off the automatic promotion places.