Wayne Rooney felt Derby County were deserved winners as they picked up all three points against Reading on Wednesday night.
Craig Forsyth’s first-half header was enough to hand Derby a 1-0 win and back-to-back victories at Pride Park Stadium.
The win also saw the Rams move into positive points in the Sky Bet Championship after they were deducted 12 points for formally entering administration last week.
Derby enjoyed a positive start to the game under the floodlights, with skipper Tom Lawrence going close with an effort from the edge of the box which was saved by Luke Southwood in the early exchanges.
They were in the ascendancy for the long spells and took the lead just after the half hour mark through an unlikely source.
Defender Forsyth, joining the attack from left back, scored his first goal since August 2016 with a looping header into the far corner from Jason Knight’s right-wing delivery.
Derby had plenty of defending to do in the second period and goalkeeper Ryan Allsop, in for the suspended Kelle Roos, made a couple of good stops to keep the visitors at bay.
The final whistle was greeted by a loud roar from the brilliant home faithful as the side picked up another important three points and extended their unbeaten run at Pride Park this term to five league matches.
Chatting to RamsTV after the final whistle, Rooney said: “I thought the lads were excellent tonight, for different reasons, in both halves.
“I thought in the first half we played some good stuff and created some very good chances, got a well-deserved lead and were a real threat at the start of the second half.
“We dropped a little bit deeper as it went on, but we defended our box excellently. They only had one half decent chance but other than that, they didn’t have any clear-cut chances and we fully deserved the win.”
On getting back into positive points, Rooney said: “It is frustrating for myself and players that we lost 12 points, but that’s where we are at.
“It’s a credit to the players to turn that around so quickly and put ourselves in a position that if we can stay with just the 12 points coming off us then we have a good chance of staying up. We have to keep working, pick up points and see where we are at.”
Forsyth’s goal was his first for Derby since August 2016 when the Rams were 1-0 winners at Preston North End.
Rooney has been impressed with the Scotsman’s impact on and off the pitch throughout the campaign and as a senior member of the squad and the club’s longest-serving player, he is a well-respected member of the dressing room.
The Derby boss said: “The goal is something we have been working on with the full backs being higher up the pitch.
“Fozzy is a big lad so when the ball is on the opposite side, we are asking him to get in the box.
“He’s had a few good chances this season - and he’s been brilliant. Since pre-season, he’s been excellent.
“I thought he was fantastic in his performance this evening. His work rate, even late on, and winning headers for us was a big thing as well.”
Derby are back in Sky Bet Championship action at Pride Park Stadium on Saturday when they face Swansea City in their final fixture before the October international break (3pm kick-off).
