Chris Martin believes that everything came together for Derby County as they recorded their fifth win in six games with a 4-2 victory over Wolves at the iPro Stadium.
The 26-year-old netted two and only for a saved penalty could have notched his second Rams hat trick in an impressive showing that Paul Clement, Derby’s Head Coach, labelled a proper 90 minutes from his side.
After recording their second straight home win, Martin admitted that the only disappointment from his point of view that he did not leave with the matchball.
Speaking to Rams Player HD, he said: “It all came together today. The atmosphere was great from the first whistle and it was great to see all the scarves out there and it gave us a little bit more of an impetuous.
“The early goal helped that, it helped the atmosphere, it helped the lads settle down. Overall, it was a great performance.”
Analysing his goals over the afternoon, the forward said: “For the first one, the ball sat up nicely for me.
“If it hadn’t of taken that little bobble before, I perhaps wouldn’t have connected with it so sweetly. I was just glad to see it fly in because it is one of the sweetest strikes that I have scored.
“For the second, I didn’t quite realise that the ‘keeper was coming that far out. I heard him shout, but I knew that the ball was just over the centre half’s head.
“Seeing the ball bounce into the back of the net meant I didn’t really care too much about the punch in the face.
“I wanted to celebrate, but it hit me a little later on. There were no ill effects and I was just delighted to see it nestle in the back of the net.
“As for the penalty was poor. I didn’t catch it at all and I was lucky that Johnno (Bradley Johnson) got me out of jail straight after from the corner.
“The game was tight at that moment in time, Wolves are a dangerous side and Afobe showed that with his quality finish. Le Fondre and him are a good combination in the Championship with McDonald in the middle of the park.
“We need that two goal lead at the break so I thanked Johnno at half time. The only disappointment from my point of view is that I haven’t got the matchball under my arm, but the three points are the most important thing.”
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Looking at the day as a whole, Martin believes that Kenny Jackett’s side could not deal with Derby’s ‘energy, enthusiasm and great attitude’.
Furthermore, the in-form Scotland international has praised the spirit that the side has shown over the past eight weeks after moving into the Sky Bet Championship’s top six for the first time this season.
He added: “Everyone has those days, they don’t come around too often so you have to saviour them when they do, but today, for some reason, most things came off for me.
“Hopefully I have more of those this season, but it isn’t always the case. It wasn’t about me today, though, it was about the team.
“We showed great energy, real enthusiasm and a great attitude from the first whistle to play on the front foot and try and win the ball back.
“We did that from the first whistle to the last. Wolves struggled to cope with that, some of our play was extremely good and it was nice to be on the end of some of those moves.
“It’s been a real team effort. We have shown real team unity, togetherness and spirit over the last six to eight weeks.”
