Head Coach Paul Warne hailed the adaptability of his Derby
County squad as two goals in quick succession early in the second half downed Queens Park Rangers 2-0 to
earn all three points at Pride Park Stadium on Saturday.
With only two senior central midfielders fit coming into the game, the Rams scored two without reply in an explosive second half showing that sees them enter the October international break with four wins from five games on home turf in the Sky Bet Championship.
Warne spoke with RamsTV after the game to discuss another well-deserved victory on home turf.
On coming out on top to claim three points…
I thought in the first half we were really good, box-to-box. I just didn't think we were clinical or creative enough; a few of our crosses hit the first man and we nearly looked good at times but not enough. At half-time, I asked the lads for a bit more and they got the two goals quite quickly.
Curtis Nelson's goal was an absolute joke, a really good header! We were really pleased for Marcus to score because he'd done a lot of running for the team. Our play possibly deserved another goal; their keeper made a good save off Jerry Yates.
There were a lot of positives. Unfortunately, we didn't have many senior professionals on the bench; we only had two central midfielders fit for today. We sort of patched up and got through as best we could. Everyone played a part and got us through to secure the win, which is pleasing.
On Curtis Nelson's second goal of the season from a set piece…
As Nels jumps, he's got a free header, but weirdly sometimes it's worse having a free header. You can overthink it; you're better off if someone's challenging you and you're sort of fighting against someone. That is some header from there. I said to him before the game that he was due a goal because he scored a great one at Blackburn on the opening day. It's good for Nels to score because he’s been an unbelievable performer again for us this season.
On the performance in the middle of the park…
Kenzo Goudmijn was outstanding for the majority of the game. He makes us tick and takes risks in the right place, accompanying Ebou Adams in the middle. They've done really well considering that they played in midweek and we were a little bit thin today in terms of our squad.
Everyone played their part, even those who didn't get on the pitch played a part in the dressing room and everything else. It's a really pleasing win and I think we deserve it. We played against three really good teams recently, losing them all, and were not on the right side of any fortune. Today we made our own fortune and won.