3/1 To Win
Striker Colin Kazim-Richards was delighted to earn Derby County a valuable three points with a 1-0 victory over Queens Park Rangers at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The 34-year-old was on hand to fire into an empty goal on the hour mark after Kamil Jozwiak’s initial effort was parried into his path.
Great work from Jason Knight and Graeme Shinnie helped to set up the Rams’ only goal on what turned out to be a good day in the capital.
It was the Rams who dominated for large parts of the game in West London, passing the ball around confidently throughout, whilst they saw the game out professionally in the latter stages.
And the win has cut the gap between the two clubs in the table to just two points.
Kazim-Richards, who joined the Rams in October as a free agent, was pleased to score the goal to win the game and wants the side to use the result as a springboard after claiming back-to-back wins for the first time this season.
“I am happy with my goal but I have to be honest and I thought I was horrible,” he told RamsTV. “The lads got me through that game and they put in an absolute shift.
“My name is going to be there because I scored, but it was down to the boys and what a shift they have put in. I’m an honest guy so I can be as honest as I can and I just wanted to put that out there.
“Seeing their faces in there, the first consecutive wins this season, and that is down to them and the work they put in.
“What we have to do is understand that it is not finished. We have to keep going and keep playing like that and how we played against Bournemouth.
"Sometimes when it is not coming off, we still need that energy. You see people putting their body on the line today.
“People have got games in hand, but they have to go and win those games in hand. Some of those games in hand are against us. We aren’t just going to lie down. I think teams know how difficult it is going to be to play against us.”
It was the striker’s fourth goal since his move at the start of the season and probably his easiest to date as he netted from close range following Seny Dieng’s initial stop from Jozwiak.
He showed good anticipation to be in the right place at the right time.
“Once I saw Graeme Shinnie breaking towards the middle of the pitch, I just moved so Kamil could come out,” he said. “Once Kamil is out and he has space to run into, I wasn’t expecting him to pass it but I was just trying to get myself into the right place.
“Luckily for me, it just dropped in the right place. Anywhere else, I wouldn’t have been able to get on it. Credit to our team again, the fight that the guys got was unbelievable.
“The defence was unbelievable today and Kelle Roos pulled out an unbelievable save. The guy will never hit a bicycle kick like that again in his life; he is a centre-back. You don’t need to talk about Graeme Shinnie, every game he is exactly the same.
“Today was one of those games where we started off well and we give stupid free-kicks away and let them come into the game and get momentum.
“When we went 1-0 up, it is normal – they have to start chasing it at home and start throwing the kitchen sink at everything. It shows the character and the belief and the desire that we have got now and the coaching staff and everybody is putting into us and long may it continue.”
