Post-Match Verdict: 'I Am Really Proud Of The Lads' - Warne

Head Coach Paul Warne described himself as 'really proud' of his Derby County team following their impressive 3-0 victory over Bristol Rovers on Saturday.

Three second half goals from the Rams saw them sweep aside the Gas at the Memorial Stadium and move back into the top two of Sky Bet League One with Dwight Gayle, Tom Barkhuizen and Martyn Waghorn on target.

The win also saw Derby equal a club record with 12 away wins in the league recorded in a season.

And speaking to RamsTV after the match, the Head Coach couldn't hide his delight at both the result and performance.

His thoughts on the result...

I'm very happy. I thought the lads were excellent in the first half. Weirdly, it was probably the best we've played in a while. I thought we were virtually unstoppable apart from the final missing piece. The longer the game went on, we looked really dominant and the more they had to come at us. The lads were excellent at picking them off and getting in behind, but as an away performance goes, it was absolutely amazing. I loved it.

On what made the performance so good for him...

I thought our three centre-halves did really well, our defensive set-pieces were really strong and they need to be away from home. Our wing-backs gave us a lot of energy, the middle of the park was really sound and the front three worked really hard - I could just go through the whole team. We slid the ball down the sides a lot, we looked athletic and exciting and that's how I want the lads to play. Joe Wildsmith keeping another clean sheet is great, so there wasn't much wrong.

On getting the goals in quick succession after half-time...

When we went 2-0 up, that's when we were at our strongest because they were coming at us and we were just picking them off, so that really pleased me. Overall as days go, I haven't had many better.

On Max Bird's injury...

Birdy felt his calf on Tuesday in the warm-up, so unfortunately he'll be missing for a few weeks. It's not too severe but I think he will be missing for another three weeks at least.

On having strength in depth...

We're blessed with having a good squad. We've had a lot of injuries this year and have had to have people to step up. It increasing levels of training. I played Conor Hourihane today, I could have played Korey or Tommo and Robbo, who was on the bench today. We didn't risk Tyrese Fornah because his back was tight, but we're blessed with midfielders and it helps the midfielders if you've got a front three with pace and athleticism to give them options on the ball.

On the busy week ahead with Reading and Bolton coming to Pride Park...

Potentially there could only be 18 halves of football ahead, you've just got to try and gas out in each of them. We've just got to go for it. Bristol Rovers have been on a better run than us recently, so it was a good place to come and win. If we can back it up with a raucous Pride Park, the lads will come out feeling a million dollars. I am really proud to be their manager today.