Wayne Rooney was delighted to see Derby County record three successive wins in the Sky Bet Championship on Saturday as they defeated Bristol City 1-0 at Pride Park Stadium - although it proved to be a bittersweet afternoon for his side.
Striker Colin Kazim-Richards scored the only goal of the game after four minutes as he fired home from close-range from Lee Buchanan’s fine left-wing cross.
Max Bird hit the post soon afterwards and the Rams also got into good attacking areas in both halves to add to their tally.
At the other end, Derby kept the visitors at bay and restricted Dean Holden’s side to few chances on goal throughout the 90 minutes to keep a third straight clean sheet.
Rooney was delighted with the victory but admitted the serious looking injury to Polish international midfielder Krystian Bielik slightly took the shine off the win.
Bielik was carried off on a stretcher in the first half and will now be assessed by the club’s medical team to determine how long he will be out of action for.
Speaking to RamsTV, Rooney said: “It is a fantastic victory; we worked hard and fought for the win.
“I thought in the first 25 minutes we were excellent and possibly could have been two or three goals up. The injury to Krystian Bielik took the momentum away from us and I was happy to go in at half-time 1-0 up to reassess and discuss what we wanted to do.
“We reverted to playing more on the counter-attack which I felt caught them a few times as we had some good chances on the break. We lacked a bit of quality in the final third to get that second goal.”
He added: “The last three games are a foundation of how we want to play. The first thing I say to the players ahead of each match is to try and keep a clean sheet. If we do that then one goal wins the game, which it has done in the last three.
“We want to score more. I think we created some good chances today, especially in the first-half, and if you keep clean sheets then you’ve got a chance to win games.”
Rooney says it will be a big blow if Bielik is out for a lengthy period. The midfielder has been in fine form since returning to the team in December after a lengthy lay-off with a knee injury.
“We all hope Krystian isn’t too bad,” Rooney said. “It didn’t look great. There is nothing I can really say at the minute. The doctor and physios will be looking at that and we have to wait for the next few days to see the full extent of the injury.
“If it is a long lay-off, then it is a massive blow as he has been fantastic for us. It’s not ideal, it’s not what we want. Players will have the chance now to step into that position if it is a bad one.”
He added: “I thought Max Bird came was fantastic in midfield today. He showed glimpses of quality, a desire and commitment. It is a chance, if Krystian is out, for Max to stamp his place in the team.”
On Kazim-Richards’ fifth goal of the campaign, Rooney was pleased with the way the Rams created the opportunity.
“I thought it was a great goal and I was really pleased,” Rooney said.
“It was a great ball by Lee Buchanan and I was pleased that Colin was in the box. There were a few times today where he was a bit outside of the box when the ball went wide and it’s a great example for him, if he gets in the box, he scores goals.”
Derby return to action on Tuesday night when they head north to take on Rotherham United in a re-arranged fixture after the clash against the Millers was postponed prior to Christmas (7pm kick-off).