Derby County Assistant Head Coach Richie Barker was delighted with the reaction shown from the side in the 4-0 Sky Bet League One victory over Northampton Town on Tuesday night.
The Rams were looking to respond from the weekend's 3-1 loss at Stevenage and did so in emphatic fashion under the Pride Park floodlights with Max Bird scoring twice and Conor Washington and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing both on the scoresheet.
Speaking to RamsTV after the match, Barker gave his verdict on the performance.
On the game...
I thought all the goals were excellent. I thought our desire to get the ball back when we lost it was excellent and we moved it about really well. I'm slightly frustrated it wasn't more but we can't be greedy. It was a good reaction from the weekend and I'm really pleased in terms of getting players minutes and resting people as well as there's a busy week coming up.
On the fast start...
I appreciate the fact that for the first few weeks of the season our home form wasn't where it wanted to be but they are starting to look a little more confident now and are feeling a little bit more at home.
The new players are starting to get more of an understanding of what it takes to play here and they came into the game with confidence.
We started the game really well and the important thing for us is always getting that first goal and we got that early tonight.
On Max Bird's performance...
To be successful we need goals from all over the pitch and from set-pieces and midfielders. Nat has got a couple over the last week or so and Birdy weighing in today and he's enjoying the more advanced role that we're working at with him and I think he probably could have had another couple more but tonight will give him really confidence.
On Conor Washington's showing...
A couple of games doesn't mean we've got the old Conor back but it will do him the world of good. Back-to-back starts and a goal and assist tonight is great for him. He's starting to look a bit like his old self tonight in terms of physically off the back of injuries and putting back-to-back training sessions together and back-to-back games. Hopefully that will give him a boost as well.
On the reaction from Saturday...
They are a great bunch who work very hard on a daily basis and buy into what we're doing. We don't have doubts about the reaction of them but what would be nice now is starting on runs and putting back-to-back together. That is our aim. The reaction has always been great but now it would be nice if we could put it all together, the home and away form.
