Derby County Under-23s coach Pat Lyons revealed his delight over the team’s recent form after their 2-0 away victory over West Ham United.
The Rams never looked in doubt during their trip to the capital as they brought a well-deserved three points back to Derby.
The scoring was opened early in the first-half as Morgan Whittaker made it to the byline his driven cross was accidentally headed home by Reece Oxford.
A host of chances fell the way of the Under-23s as the game went on, all of which were spurned.
However with 17 minutes left on the clock Jayden Mitchell-Lawson’s blistering pace broke away from the Hammers’ defence and his through ball found Louie Sibley, who coolly slotted the ball in.
The victory is Derby’s seventh game unbeaten in league and cup in a run which stretches back to the 1-1 draw with PSG in September.
Speaking to dcfc.co.uk, Lyons said: “I thought that we were excellent.
“We created some good chances and got a bit of luck in the first-half with the own goal but we felt that we grew into the game.
“In the second-half we had three really good chances which we eventually scored one of to kill the game, but I’m so delighted for them because it’s been a tough week with three games in six days.
“To come here keep a clean sheet and have a performance like that was fantastic. They’ve put a lot of energy into the last six days and it’s been an unbelievable period for us.”
The victory also saw the Under-23s cement their position of second place in the Premier League 2 table, one point of league leaders Everton.
“We’re delighted, we know week in week out we’re playing against good opposition from the top end of the Premier League, but, we know what we’re about and we always come to these clubs with confidence.
“For us, yeah, the results are good; but it’s the performances that we’re getting that’s really pleasing. In and out of possession it’s the way we want to play and that’s pleasing, obviously the results are coming on top of that.
“It’s a bit surreal really to know that we’re second in the league. Putting this run together of good results and performances is really pleasing, hopefully we can just keep going with it.”
Under-23s centre-back Max Hunt has been a key figure over the seven game unbeaten run and he was also delighted with the sides growing confidence.
“I think the confidence is growing and it’s coming from what we’re doing in training,” Hunt told Dcfc.co.uk.
“The standards, day in day out, of what we expect of each other are constantly improving and that’s thankfully showing in the results that we’re getting.”
“It was a tough game coming here, we knew they were going to be a big physical side and that it was going to be a tough game so to come away with the result that we wanted is really pleasing.”
Words: Andrew Haines
