Striker Martyn Waghorn has described the 3-2 victory over Birmingham City at the end of September as a relief as it secured Derby County's first home victory of the season at Pride Park Stadium.
Goals from Chris Martin, Waghorn and Jamie Paterson secured a valuable three points and it kick-started a week which the Rams picked up seven points from a possible nine, including a 2-0 home win over Luton Town last weekend.
It proved to be a catalyst for Derby who entered the second international break of the campaign full of confidence ahead of their next Sky Bet Championship fixture against Charlton Athletic at the Valley on Saturday 19th October.
And Waghorn, who has four goals to his name this season, felt the win against the Blues was a big result for the Rams in more ways than one.
“It was a massive relief,” he told RamsTV. “It was important we went out there, worked hard as a team and showed togetherness and we did that.
“It was not an easy game, we made it hard for ourselves. It shows how much this league can bite you in the backside.
“For Kelle Roos to make the penalty save at 2-2, we went again and got the third goal and it was massive. It showed what we are all about.
“We haven’t probably shown it often enough this season but in spells we have played some good stuff. As a team moving forward, it’s a level we know we need to play at, so it was a relief to get the win.”
Waghorn was pleased that the squad displayed their togetherness on the pitch to get a positive result.
“We spoke about it all week in terms of what we were going to do on the Saturday,” Waghorn said.
“We said that we were going to go out there, work hard, stick by each other whatever happens, win, lose or draw we would always be there for each other.
“It was important for the manager as well. For us to go out there and show him what we want to do, what we want to be here, we want to win games and we are a team going forward so it was a relief in many ways.
“It was later than expected to get the first home win but it’s done now, ticked off and it allowed us to get two in a row at home.”
