Post-Match Verdict: Richie Barker Vs Exeter City (A)

Derby County Assistant Head Coach Richie Barker believes the side earned themselves 'a big three points' against Exeter City on Tuesday evening.

Two second half goals from David McGoldrick sealed a vital 2-1 away win for the Rams, who now sit just outside the Sky Bet League One play-off places on goal difference with three games left to play.

Speaking to RamsTV after the win, Barker gave his verdict on the performance.

On the victory...

It feels like a big three points. Off the back of two big away games in four days too, four points is a good return. I thought the lads were excellent.

We went with fresh legs and they were extremely hardworking tonight. We started a little slowly but we spoke about a few things at half-time and I thought we were by far the better team in the second half.

On the performance...

I thought we deserved to win the game but I thought it should have been more comfortable because the goal conceded is disappointing.

We changed the shape a little bit and tried to be a bit more positive at the top of the pitch. The first half wasn't great but it was a good away 45 minutes and I thought in the second half we should have won the game more comfortably.

On David McGoldrick's goals...

In fairness to him and Conor Hourihane, they've worked that free-kick routine between themselves. I thought he was excellent. He's on a fantastic run of form and it's a great effort from him to be honest. He played 90 minutes the other day and near on 90 minutes tonight too. His second was an excellent finish and he's one of the few players in this division that has the composure and the ability in a crowded 18-yard box to put it in the bottom corner from there. The second goal was always going to be important and luckily it fell to him.

On conceding...

That's the biggest frustration from the game. They've got nothing to play for so can play free but it was just disappointing because I think if we had gone another five or 10 minutes then the game would have just fizzled out.

On the character to stand up at the end...

We've spoken a lot about the disappointment of the penalty we conceded at Bristol Rovers at the weekend because we could have been stood here with six points.

It was important that the players didn't go into this game feeling sorry for themselves, we were all disappointed but in fairness to their character - it shows how hard they are prepared to work together. The substitutes came on and played a part as well.

On Saturday morning would we have taken four points from two away games with two home games upcoming? I think we would.

On the two upcoming home games...

We set ourselves a bit of a target a few weeks ago and all we can do is look after ourselves. We've given ourselves a chance with back-to-back home games now against Burton Albion and Portsmouth. In the next 10 days we'll probably have a good idea what our fate is going to be.

On the travelling fans...

Most of those that came here tonight were probably at Bristol Rovers on Saturday as well. They were important for us kicking towards them in the second half. They gave the lads energy and encouraged them to keep pressing. They've been excellent away from home all season and to think about that many coming here on a Tuesday night is amazing.