3/1 To Win
Defender Nat Phillips noted the importance of maintaining belief and momentum as Derby County look ahead to visiting Swansea City on Saturday.
Phillips provided assists for both of the Rams’ second half goals from Craig Forsyth and Jerry Yates as they scored two without reply against Preston North End at Pride Park Stadium - the Liverpool loanee’s 25th Sky Bet Championship appearance in black and white this season.
The victory saw John Eustace’s side continue the momentum gathered before the March international break with three wins in a row against Blackburn Rovers, Coventry City and Plymouth Argyle as they triumphed over the Lilywhites at Pride Park.
Derby will be backed by a sold out away following of over 1,900 fans in South Wales on Saturday at the Swansea.com Stadium (3pm kick-off) and Phillips spoke to RamsTV ahead of the fixture.
His reflections on Wednesday night’s win over Preston North End…
We're obviously delighted with the win and delighted with the performance. Not much time has passed and there's not much time until the next game, so you don't have loads of time to dwell on it because you've got to refocus and move on to the next one.
On assisting both goals…
It’s all about contributing as a player. You just want to be a part of the team and contribute as much as possible. It's nice to get the assists, but the clean sheet is the one for us as defenders. We want to try and make that happen. Especially at the moment, every goal is so vital. Fozzy's a big character at the club. We don't know how much a goal means to him, so I imagine getting those goals means an extra bit more for him.
On his experience on loan with Derby this season…
I've really enjoyed it here. It is a great dressing room and a good group of guys who've always been welcoming from day one. It was nice and easy to settle in. With regards to playing, early on, I was in and out a bit. In the second half of the season, I feel like I've been a bit more of a feature, which has been enjoyable.
Playing at Pride Park, it's a great experience with the crowds we get and the support that we get. Our away following is great too. It's nice to have that level of support and to play in that atmosphere. The goal before coming [on loan to Derby] was to play as much as possible and to try and contribute as much as I could. I feel like I've done that and want to keep doing that.
On the mentality boost of a quartet of wins in the Championship…
We can't dwell on it too much because there's another match coming around the corner. These wins don't mean anything if you don't win the next ones. You enjoy it on the final whistle and in the dressing room after, but you've just got to refocus on the next game and keep this form going. We want to keep the momentum going.
On being ready and eager ahead of a busy schedule to end the season…
We were quite disappointed that the break came when it did, because we were on a good run and we wanted to keep that momentum going. That’s why we needed to do well against Preston. We maintained that momentum, and we just want to continue that. It is relentless, but we're in good shape at the moment. We're welcoming the games.
