"We Earned The Right To Play"

Darren Wassall felt that Derby County’s Under-23s earned the right to play their football after a thoroughly impressive 2-1 win against Nottingham Forest ensured their pathway to the Premier League Cup knock-out stage.

Alex Babos struck two glorious goals to put the Rams in control, and despite the hosts getting one back late on, Derby held on to take the bragging rights back to Pride Park Stadium.

The encounter was physical from the off, and Wassall believes that the attitude and commitment that his side showed on the night was key to the positive result.

He told RamsTV: “It’s great to get a win away from home at the City Ground in a cup competition, it doesn’t matter what age group it is, they’re big games and you have to earn the right to play and be ready for the physical duels.

“The lads competed absolutely brilliantly.

“We try to play at a tempo, to earn the right to play is one of our core principles, the Man United game was a real example of that as well.

“We started on the front foot, every single one of the players earned the right to play and that set the standard for our game, it set us up for the victory.”

The first goal didn’t come from an unlikely source, but it was the manner of the finish that would have surprised almost everyone inside the City Ground.

One of the smaller players on the pitch, Babos leapt above everyone in the area, and the thumping header led to some cheeky comparisons in the dressing room after the game…

Wassall explained: “His header was Andy Carroll-esque! His technique is very good and it was a great cross from Sven [Karic] as well as a great header.

“We’ve been delighted with him all season, as with most of the players.”

As has been the case over the last few weeks, it was a young team that took to the field for the Under-23s, with several senior names having left on loan during the January transfer window.

Wassall was keen to highlight some of the younger players that have made an impression so far this season.

He said: “Morgan Whittaker trained with the first team last week and he did really well on Saturday for the Under-18s, so deservedly he was called up tonight.

“He did really well and he was unfortunate not to make it 3-0.

“Jayden Bogle has been here for most of the season and had done really well, Cameron Cresswell as well, you forget how young these players are.

“Under-23s football gets knocked a little bit, and unfairly so. There aren’t big crowds but if you approach it properly, you can get a lot out of it.”