3/1 To Win
Alex Pearce relished his first league start of the season teaming up with Curtis Davies to help the Rams to a clean sheet and a 1-0 win over Preston to end an eight-game winless streak.
Derby came away with maximum points in a crucial win at Deepdale to bounce back after a disappointing 4-1 defeat at home against relegation-battling Sunderland on Friday night.
It was a quick turnaround for the Rams over the Easter weekend but Pearce believes his side were fuelled by the last result and determined to get back to winning ways.
“As a squad we needed to show a reaction from Friday night, I think we did that,” Pearce told RamsTV after the match.
“We rode our luck at times, obviously with the penalty miss and they had a few scrapes in and around our box. Overall we defended really well as a team and I think we certainly reacted well coming off Friday night.”
Gary Rowett penned Pearce into the starting line-up for the first league game this season, replacing Richard Keogh who dropped to the substitutes bench.
After the match the Rams boss had high praise for his centre-back for his performance alongside Davies while Pearce said he was grateful to get his opportunity.
He added: “I was pleased to come in, I had an opportunity and I like to think I took it.
“There were a couple of moments where we would have liked to have done better but nothing’s perfect in a game of 90 minutes. I think overall we defended well and we were grateful to get the three points in a tough place to come to and we move on now.
“It’s always a bonus for a defender to keep a clean sheet. It is obviously your main objective along with the win and thankfully we got both.”
Tom Lawrence stepped up with the only goal of the game, grabbing his fourth goal of the season.
The stunning free-kick secured the win for the Rams early in the second-half during a gruelling and 90 minutes at a cold and rainy Deepdale.
On Easter Monday it was Lawrence’s time to grab the moment of glory, but Pearce believes it could have been any one of Rowett’s men.
“We’ve got players that can do that,” Pearce said.
“We have got ability right throughout the team and if we can just keep the back door shut we know that one moment of brilliance like that can win us a game and hopefully that can get us going again this season and help us finish well.”
With the Rams back to their winning ways, securing their first victory since a 3-0 win against Brentford in early February, Pearce is confident the win will be pivotal in helping the team gain momentum for the rest of the season in their bid to earn promotion.
He added: “This will help us going into the game on Saturday, hopefully it will gives us some confidence. We will take the performance from today into Saturday and go on from there.”
