Eustace was berated by sections of the Pride Park home support with chants of ‘You’re getting sacked in the morning’ during Tuesday’s hammering.

The former Blackburn boss had Derby within 45 minutes of securing a play-off place on the final weekend last season but is now facing a relegation battle.

“I'm the public head. I have to speak in the media, I take the good times and the bad times, and ultimately that's my job,” he said. “I'm the head coach of an unbelievable football club.

"I'm very proud to have managed this football club and taken it from seven points adrift with 11 games to go to 45 minutes out of the play-offs over these 15, 16 months. We haven't continued as much as what we wanted to, of course, for different reasons, which has been disappointing.

“We're now in a position where we have a lot of injuries. We have a lot of players in the squad who probably weren't even at the club last season, who we're now asking to play.

"We're asking young lads to come in as well, and you know the boys that we recruited have you know been great additions. They've got to adapt to the Championship. It's not easy.

“You know we're coming up against a club (in Norwich) who spent, what, £40m to £50m over the last couple of seasons. We're certainly not at that level. And you know they lost good players, and now they've just won three in a row.

"This is the Championship. When you get players back, and you get that kind of consistency, it certainly helps.”

Ex-City defender Shane Duffy was an unused substitute on Tuesday for the Rams after signing on a short term deal.

“We’ve got nine defenders out at the moment. That doesn't certainly help,” said Eustace. “You know, from a defensive structure, we always want to be solid. We always want to be hard to play against, and we are a soft touch at the moment.

"And we probably have been all season for different reasons. I think collectively we just haven't been good enough. I take full responsibility for the performances.

"The performances haven't been at the level, and you know, ultimately, you can make as many excuses as you want with injuries and suspensions and whatnot. But you know, I get judged on results, and the results haven't been good.”