Derby County Head Coach Paul Warne admitted he was 'proud' of his players following the 1-0 victory over Charlton Athletic on Saturday.
The Rams battled to keep a clean-sheet at The Valley and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing's first half goal was enough to pick up another three points on the road to move the side up to second in Sky Bet League One.
Speaking to RamsTV after the game, the Head Coach spoke of his pride of the entire group and the performance as a whole.
On the victory...
I'm really proud of the team. I love the group. To get through the transfer window has been a trying time, so I'm glad that's shut and we can focus fully on the field now. I thought today, from start to finish, everyone played a part. All 16 players cared and wanted to win. When you are away from home, you have to work really hard and battle the crowd at times. I thought the wing-backs were outstanding and the back three were really good. I thought you could feel Ebou Adams' presence from the off too in midfield. I just thought we were really good and I'm really proud of them all. It's one of the most enjoyable away performances I've had for many a year.
On what made the victory so enjoyable for him...
Our basics were bang on the money. I thought our basics were really good and the commitment to do well is what I'm proud of. You can do amazing and do everything right and lose, but it's a performance thing and if you care about what you do and perform at a level and give everything, losing a game isn't the end of the world. Last week against Cheltenham, when we won 2-1, I wasn't very happy because the performance level was honking. However, today we won 1-0 and the performance level was significantly higher.
On the winning goal from Mendez-Laing...
The players are really well coached by Richie Barker. He worked out the press and how to get the ball back and we got it back by being brave. The weight of pass from Birdy to Nat was superb. Nat worked his way in there and scored, so I couldn't have been happier.
On Mendez-Laing's injury...
A stud went through his boot, so his foot is in a bit of a state. I don't think there is anything too dramatic, but he did come out on crutches and a protective boot which isn't the most pleasing thing for me to see! I honestly don't know more than that.
On Corey Blackett-Taylor missing out...
He felt his groin in training on Monday and he hasn't trained enough since to be a part of it. Weirdly, I had no intention of playing him here because I just didn't think he'd have a good game after just joining us from Charlton. I thought it may become too much, so we didn't rush anything this week and hopefully he will join back in with the group next week.
On the strength of his bench...
Our bench is like the PFA Team of the Year! Fortunately for us, Conor Washington should be back in a couple of weeks, Corey Blackett-Taylor is back next week and then we're only really waiting on Martyn Waghorn and Craig Forsyth. We'll have different problems in a couple of weeks when everyone is fit, but that's how you want your bench. The fact that I'm able to send on experienced and strongly motivated players is great. I'm really pleased with the bench and really pleased with all of their impact. We're fortunate that when everyone is fit, the squad just looks better.
On the travelling support...
They were amazing and I kept thinking that scores must have been going well because nothing was really happening and then they started singing about loads of different things - and I thought they seemed very happy for a tense 1-0 scoreline! There's nothing better than coming on the pitch when you've won away from home and you can go and milk those celebrations. I want the lads in the dressing room to have the best life they can and days like this are magical.
