Mason Mount was delighted with his hat-trick in Derby County’s 4-0 victory over Bolton Wanderers in a 'perfect' afternoon for the Rams at Pride Park Stadium.
Craig Bryson opened the scoring for Derby late in the first-half before Mount doubled the lead moments before the break.
He coolly capped off the afternoon with two more in the second-half to bring his tally to ten goals on the season.
It was the first hat-trick in English football for the youngster and second of his career after bagging one last season while on loan at Vitesse Arnhem in Holland.
The midfielder was even more delighted with the three points and team performance by the Rams to pull them within two points off the play-off with five games remaining.
“It’s my first hat-trick in English football and second one of my career,” Mount told RamsTV. “It is the best feeling when you score a goal so to score three times in a game is unbelievable.
“It is a game that you remember for a long time.
“Not just myself but the whole team, we were brilliant. We knew it was going to be a tough game because Bolton are fighting for their lives now so we were just patient and when we had the chance we said we needed to be ruthless and take the chances and we did that.”
The Rams have sailed to back-to-back victories at Pride Park since the international break, scoring ten goals and conceding just once in those two games.
The 20-year-old puts their ruthlessness down to executing their game plan and the togetherness of the team.
As they continue to push for the play-offs, Mount insists the team are focusing on themselves.
“I think just the fluidness and how we are playing at home at the moment, it’s unstoppable. We did that again today, we were perfect,” he explained.
“The gaffer said afterwards that it could have been ten, it could have been double figures. There were a couple that I missed as well that I was disappointed with.
“We said that it was a must win today and everyone knew that, especially after what happened in midweek.
“Now we can just keep focusing on ourselves and getting as many points as we can. Every game is a tough game, we know that but we are focusing on ourselves and trying to win as many games as we can.”
Four of those goals in the last two home games have come from Mount who said he has now hit his minimum for the season and is eager to push on for more to help the team for the final run in.
“My goal after being out for a long time and coming back in was to score goals and be a big part of the team,” said Mount.
“For me personally, I have always set a target of 10 goals for the season, I got that last season and now it is a relief and I can just build on it and try and get as many as I can.”
