Derby County midfielder Louie Sibley was delighted to be back in the starting eleven and back on the scoresheet following the 3-2 victory over Oxford United on Saturday at the Kassam Stadium.
The 21-year-old Academy graduate scored twice, while Sam Long turned James Collins’ second half header into his own net, as the Rams returned to winning ways and moved up to fifth in Sky Bet League One in the process.
Speaking to RamsTV after the game, Sibley shared his delight at being back in the starting line-up and gave his verdict on the overall performance.
On the three points…
It was massive today. The last 10 minutes were a bit tight,, but we showed as a team we can dig in. We know the last couple of games haven’t been perfect but today we knew we had to show character and I think everyone played well and everyone dug in.
On the character in the side…
The character hasn’t been great over the last couple of games, but we’ve stuck together. We know the first 10 minutes weren’t great today eother but we dug deep and showed great character to get us over the line.
On his two goals…
You can tell by my reaction I was buzzing. It was a great ball from Conor Hourihane for the first and another great assist from him. For me, being back in the number ten position, it’s important to score goals and create chances so I was really delighted with that but the most important thing today was the three points.
My right foot, the swinger, was back out for the second, too. I’ve been working on my right foot and I do prefer being in midfield so I was back in there today and happy to be involved.
On being back in midfield…
We knew how to stop Oxford so I feel like me and the other midfielders worked well in there. I feel like I can create more chances as an attacking midfielder, I’m involved more. I enjoy playing at left-back but today I was back in the number ten position and felt like I did well.
On the third goal…
James Collins is saying to the lads that he touched it like all strikers do. He worked well, I felt like we worked well together and the whole team dug deep - it was a top performance all the way through the side.
On conceding the second late on…
We were disappointed to concede that as it made the last five minutes more nervous but it was always going to be tight. The back four were great and you saw in the last 10 minutes that we were heading the ball away and our game management in general was better than it has been lately.
On bouncing back after Tuesday’s loss at Plymouth…
We were very disappointed after Tuesday because we’ve not been good enough against the top teams really and against Plymouth in the second half wasn’t good enough. That’s football though, we know we had to bounce back and today we proved that. Hopefully we can go on a nice little run now and who knows what can happen.
On the travelling fans…
The support they show us up and down the country is amazing. From Plymouth to today, we have massive respect for them. The three points was important today but we always do it for the fans, they show the support every week so we try and give it back to them.
