Wayne Rooney was understandably proud of his players after Derby County recorded an impressive 1-0 win over West Bromwich Albion on Monday afternoon.
In their final home game of 2021, Rooney’s side picked up all three points against the Baggies at Pride Park Stadium.
Derby stood toe-to-toe with their promotion-chasing opponents in the first half at a rain-soaked afternoon in Derbyshire before the encounter exploded into life in the second period.
Kyle Bartley had a goal ruled out for the visitors for offside early in the half before Derby went on to take the lead just after the hour mark.
A mistake in the Albion defence presented an opportunity for substitute Colin Kazim-Richards and with one of his first touches he fired Rooney’s side into the lead.
Derby held on, with goalkeeper Ryan Allsop denying Bartley with a superb stop in injury time, to pick up back-to-back wins in the Championship for the first time this season.
The result leaves the Rams 14 points adrift of safety, owing to their 21 points deduction for entering administration and historical profitability and sustainability rules, but Rooney’s players once again proved they are more than up for the fight.
Speaking to RamsTV after the final whistle, Rooney said: “For our young lads especially, they showed a different side to them today as West Brom are a physical team and they try to make it that sort of game at times.
“Our players have proved that they can fight and mix it with one of the best teams in the division and I thought we deserved the win.
“I know we didn’t create many chances but in terms of the energy and fight the lads gave, I felt we deserved the three points.
“Sometimes the game turns into how it did today and you have to roll your sleeves up, put your bodies on the line and make sure you stop crosses and try to limit their opportunities, which I thought we did well.
“We got a bit of luck with the goal and it’s great when that happens for you, but this win will lift the whole club.”
He added: “Everyone in the Academy need to be proud of themselves with the number of players coming from the youth system in the side today, so it was a huge win for us.”
Kazim-Richards’ goal was his second of the campaign and his first in the league this term after returning from an achilles injury.
The experienced striker benefited from a mix-up between Albion goalkeeper Sam Johnstone and defender Cedric Kipre to fire into the unguarded net from distance.
Rooney said: “It’s always great when they fall for you!
“It was still a good finish from Colin and it’s not an easy one, especially with the conditions as they were today. I felt Colin and Ravel Morrison did well when they came on and that’s what they needed to do.”
Derby were without a handful of players as they followed COVID-19 isolation protocols and Rooney was pleased with how his squad handled their absences.
They were in a similar position or the 1-0 victory over Blackpool earlier this month and once again came together to pick up a valuable win.
He said: “The majority of our squad have had COVID-19 so that should hopefully mean between now and the end of the season they will be fine.
“For today’s game, we had the lads who were off with it and I think we have four more who haven’t had it - so the other lads will be back for our next game.
“We have to analyse their fitness because it’s not an easy one to come back from so soon, but those that played today have given me something to think about.”
Derby’s final game of 2021 will see them head across the A50 to face Stoke City at the bet365 Stadium on Thursday 30th December (7:45pm kick-off).