Post-Match Verdict: Paul Warne Vs Bristol Rovers (H)

Derby County Head Coach Paul Warne was delighted to get his first Pride Park Stadium win under his belt after the 4-2 victory over Bristol Rovers on Saturday in Sky Bet League One.

He spoke to RamsTV after the final whistle to discuss the game and the impressive reaction from his team after Tuesday night.

Striker David McGoldrick netted a hat-trick while James Collins was on target as all six of the goals in the contest came in the opening 45 minutes.

On his first Pride Park win…

I still feel like I’ve aged quite a lot! At times we were excellent but then at times we shot ourselves in the foot.

To come away with a win pleases me. There’s a lot of positives from today but as always there’s still a lot to work on.

On David McGoldrick’s first career hat-trick…

I said to the lads before the game I want them to play like gladiators. For Didzy to score three goals, I know his family were here today, was great and they were some excellent goals as well.

On James Collins’ return…

Dobs and Will Osula are still learning the game whereas Collo has been there and done that. He just gives you a physical presence up top. He definitely improved our team today.

I think in the first half we could have got plenty more goals. Conor Hourihane and Birdy in midfield were excellent; they won tackles and set off attacks and on another day we may have got more.

The disappointing thing for me was that we gave away a few needless free-kicks and you give the opposition a real opportunity to score.

On the reaction from the team…

If we’re going to lose, the opposition have to be excellent. We have to match their enthusiasm as every team that comes here and then hopefully the quality will come out.

I was just disappointed with Tuesday night and the 0-0 draw with Exeter that we didn’t have enough oomph. Performance leads to results, which leads to momentum, and the fact they took that on board today and scored after about four minutes was great.

Generally, we were really good and I’m really pleased. It’s about trying to get the next points. That’s the thing with this league, you can win two or three on the spin and be right up there.