Derby County winger Tom Barkhuizen scored his first brace of the season in the 4-0 win over Accrington Stanley at Pride Park Stadium on Monday afternoon.
His early goals in both halves set the tone for what was a dominant display from the Rams and saw them move up to fourth in Sky Bet League One.
He spoke to RamsTV after the match to reflect on the 'perfect' way to start the new year.
On the day...
It's a perfect way to start the year. You don't get much better than 4-0 at home and a couple of goals.
When I was at Morecambe a few years ago, I scored against Accrington Stanley and obviously my one goal in the league this year for Derby was against them so I was quietly confident going into today - and you won't get too many easier than the two I got today.
On the team's start...
We started both halves strong. We obviously got the early goal and then we came in at half-time 3-0 and didn't want to take our foot off the gas and we got one almost instantly. Not many teams come back from 4-0 down.
We pride ourselves on starting well and then when we can start showing how good we are.
On back-to-back wins...
We've been on a really good unbeaten run but we've drawn quite a few so it's nice to get those back-to-back wins. We want to go up another gear, we want to hunt down that top two and that's the aim.
The gaffer has come in and we've been so hard to beat and that's the foundation of a good run. The back line have been incredible, you've got to give all four of the coaching staff great credit.
On the group...
It's a really happy group and that all comes from the top. The boss is very positive, he texts you all the time - he doesn't just talk about football he likes to make sure you're OK and doing well in your personal life. For me, that's a good foundation for a good relationship and once you've got that you want to go out on the pitch and give it all for them and the staff and the club.
I said when I signed that we wanted to try and so something special and I think we've set the foundations of that now so let's keep our foot on the gas and see what we can do
