Derby boss Paul Warne was delighted with the grit his team showed as they bounced back from a midweek defeat at Plymouth to win 3-2 at Oxford and get their League One play-off push back on track.
Louie Sibley scored twice as the Rams hit back from going behind in the 14th minute to Sam Long’s header.
A Long own goal, diverting James Collins’ header into his own net after 61 minutes, made it 3-1 to County before a late Kyle Joseph effort for Oxford.
Derby manager Warne said: “There are different ways to win and today we showed a bit of grit.
“We’ve been a bit soft-centred at times in parts of our away performances this year.
“It wasn’t a game for the purist but I don’t care… it’s all about winning. We had to dig in and this will give the lads a real boost.
“Conceding late on unfortunately made it seem a lot closer than it was.
“After going a goal down, it just shows the character of the group. It was the best, I felt, for everyone enjoying the win.
“There felt like there was a real togetherness, so with that and the win, it has been a really good day.
“There were some really good performances.
“We started a bit sluggish, we didn’t really get a grip of their striker or win first contact and gave away easy free-kicks but we then gave ourselves some control.
“In the second half we didn’t have much control but I’m really pleased with the way we managed the game at the end.
“At Plymouth – in the week – I didn’t think our second-half performance was very good and we let the fans down but today I thought the lads put a real performance in.
“Louis could have got me manager of the month if he’d got a hat-trick and he had a really good chance with a header to get a third.
“But he took his goals well and he did a good job out of possession too because he was up against Cameron Brannagan who is their best player by a country mile.”
New Oxford manager Liam Manning watched from the stands ahead of his unveiling as Karl Robinson’s successor on Monday.
He takes over a team that has drawn one and lost nine of their last 10 games and are in real relegation danger.
Caretaker boss Craig Short said: “We’re in a fight. We should have got something from both of our last two games and that’s gut-wrenching.
“I was really pleased with how we started and Marcus Browne getting on the ball was causing them problems.
“We looked solid and went 1-0 up and I thought ‘yes, let’s go again’. But then there were two free-kicks that we didn’t deal with properly.
“We were rushing when trying to chase the game in the second half and that was when we got stretched and it’s when we get stretched that we look most vulnerable.
“In this league, at times, we have lost the midfield battle.
“The boys have come from great academies and can all play good football but sometimes we lose the physical side of the game.
“Liam came in to see the players before the game, which was great and gave them a lift.
“We’ve got 10 games left this season and we’re in a scrap now. We’ve been dragged into it.
“Liam’s done a lot of coaching all over, he’s been to America, Belgium…. he’s a real student of the game.
“But he knows too that what happens in the two boxes is very important – that’s what has let us down. We haven’t been taking our chances and in defending and are not keeping clean sheets.”
