Head Coach John Eustace lauded the fighting spirit his Derby County players showed to claim a 3-2 win at Plymouth Argyle on Saturday afternoon.
The Rams came out on top of a rollercoaster encounter in the Sky Bet Championship at Home Park.
After taking a two-goal lead through Marcus Harness and Harrison Armstrong inside 26 minutes, a free kick goal from Mustapha Bundu and an own goal from Nat Phillips after half-time brought the game back level.
Following a fighting performance in the second period, Derby battled to keep Plymouth at bay, and Harness netted his second of the game late on to earn the Rams the victory.
Eustace caught up with RamsTV to give his thoughts after his side’s third Championship win in a row.
On winning 3-2 against Plymouth…
I’m very, very proud of the effort of the group. I am very proud of the 1,700 fans that travelled all the way down. Throughout the game, the noise was incredible to get behind the boys. We started the game really well and the first half-an-hour was excellent. We then gave them a needless free kick, which they produced a great goal from to give them a lifeline.
The way we started the second half wasn’t good enough, so the momentum was with them. However, the way things panned out was excellent; we stayed in the game when we were under a lot of pressure against a really good team. I knew we'd get an opportunity on the counter, which we did.
On a sign of character to fight back and earn three points…
That's what Derby County is all about. The support, again, was magnificent. During the difficult moments, that's when this club comes together. The players have got to do that as well. Since I've been here, it's been tough at times and the players have just stuck together. I believe in the process. It's all about the family of Derby County now. We've got to grow together; the players, the staff, the fans. Whatever happens at the end of the season, we just stick together.
On improvements in the group and in confidence after three wins on the bounce…
We've shown a couple of different sides to ourselves this week. Against Blackburn last Saturday we were electric from the start. The way that we had to adjust, and the players had to adjust to stay in the game and see it out was really pleasing against a really top team. Against Coventry in the week, it was another top team coming to Pride Park. We dominated them really without the ball.
The group showed great character to come here today, as the third game in a week, and get the win. We started the match really well, dominated with and without the ball. To then get pegged back to 2-2 just after half-time was tough. The character that this group showed, just to stay in and hang in for the difficult moments, was really pleasing. The fans certainly helped do that as well, they were magnificent again today.
