Liam Rosenior was pleased to see Derby County pick up their second win in two League One outings in the 2022/23 season following a 2-1 home win over Barnsley on Saturday.
Rosenior’s side have picked up maximum points on home turf at Pride Park Stadium this term and two first half goals proved to be enough for the Rams on a baking hot Derbyshire afternoon.
Derby took the lead after just eight minutes as Barnsley defender Conor McCarthy nodded the ball into his own net from Conor Hourihane’s corner.
The Rams dominated for long spells in the first half and doubled their lead through Nathaniel Mendez-Laing after 35 minutes as he drilled the ball into the bottom corner after good work by Tom Barkhuizen.
Josh Benson pulled a goal back for the visitors midway through the second period as his effort from the edge of the box was deflected beyond Joe Wildsmith by Rams defender Richard Stearman.
Barnsley enjoyed plenty of pressure after hauling themselves back into the contest and asked questions of Rosenior’s side from a defensive aspect, but they held on to claim their second win from three league outings this term.
Rosenior caught up with RamsTV after the final whistle to give his verdict on the 90 minutes and his pride in the way the players rolled up their sleeves to ensure they picked up all three points.
On The Win…
I was delighted with the first half performance and we played some outstanding football. To win games, it’s not just about playing nice football. It’s about standing up and being physical. We’ve spoken a lot about the physical challenge of League One and I think Barnsley are going to be up there at the end of the season. They put on a great performance in the second half, but I have to say Eiran Cashin’s performance was magnificent at the back and he epitomises the group at the moment. It was a hot day, we’ve spoken again about the fitness levels previously, so that will take time but what the players did with their mentality to win was they didn’t stop running, didn’t stop defending and that’s exactly what I’m looking for in terms of the mental toughness of the game.
On The Defence…
It’s a squad game. That’s why it’s so important to have a great squad. The good thing with Richard Stearman, coming in for the injured Curtis Davies, is that you trust him. He puts everything into every game, makes some great blocks and he did some outstanding bits of defending today. Him and Eiran Cashin played together quite a lot during pre-season so they understand each other’s game. It’s not just about those two, though. James Collins did not stop running up front and was working so hard throughout the game. At the end, he was back in the box heading balls out. It’s a team effort. I will never have a go at the players. We may have games like today where we don’t play to our level, but they give 100%. I will never have a go at a player for making a mistake and they just need to give that effort like they did today.
On The First Goal From A Corner…
Credit to Jake Buxton for the set plays. To be honest, the set plays have been good. We nearly scored a few at Charlton last week from them but the great thing about this group is that you give them information about where you want them to run and they just do it. Bucko has been working hard on the training ground with the set plays. James Collins ran where he needed to run for it and Stears is claiming the goal. I’m not sure myself but that sums up James Collins. He is a huge focal point for us and he nearly scored an absolutely fantastic team goal so I’m delighted with him.
On Barnsley And Six Points So Far…
You could see that they are a good side. It’s not been a kind fixture list for us, with Oxford, Charlton and Barnsley to start the season, but to get six points from three games is the average you need throughout the campaign to be where we want to be and I’m delighted considering the start we have had. To get six points with the start that we’ve had through pre-season and throwing this team together, it is great. If you had said to me we would have six points from three games, I would have snapped your hands off. Now we have got to go away from home and pick points up against Shrewsbury Town on Tuesday and Fleetwood Town on Saturday. We need to make sure we are at it. The lads are already in their ice baths which for the first time it’s not been hard to tell them to get in there! We make sure that this game is done, we park it and we move on to Tuesday now.