Wayne: It gives us a platform
WAYNE Rooney has challenged Derby County’s players to build on their first win in two months.
The Rams’ interim manager said: “It gives us something to build on.
“I can see the team progressing in a very good way and it (the win) will give them great confidence.
“I could see that confidence coming back in the previous two games and to get the three points will give the players huge confidence.
“I was delighted with the clean sheet. It was overdue and to get the three points, the players deserve that for the effort they put in over the past week.”
Rooney revealed the plan behind the Rams’ victory.
“I think the game went as we thought it would,” he said.
“We knew the first 15 to 20 minutes of both halves would be a battle.
“(Millwall striker) Matt Smith is a handful and that is the reason Graeme Shinnie and Jason Knight were alongside Krystian Bielik (in midfield) because we knew there would be a lot of second balls and we knew we had to be there and challenge and try to win them.
“But after the first 15 minutes of both halves, we felt we could get control of the game and then try and get more bodies forward.”
Derby recorded only their second clean sheet in the League this season and their first in two months.
“I think the players are finding a bit of steel,” said Rooney.
“They know they have to defend, they know they have to dig in to win football matches, and I’ve been delighted with all of them.
“That is not just the players who are starting the game but the lads who are coming off the bench as well.
“The players showed a great attitude in terms of the work rate. They knew they would have to put a lot of work in.
“I am just pleased for the lads, it is a great win for us.”
Former Rams boss Gary Rowett felt his Millwall side missed an opportunity to pile more pressure on Derby.
“I felt it was important we started well against Derby because they are in a difficult position. They are in a fragile position, to a certain degree,” Rowett said.
“We started fairly brightly. We were very competitive early on and created the chance for Jed (Wallace). If you look at the game there is a big chance for each team – we didn’t take ours and they took their one.
“I don’t think Bart (Millwall keeper Bartosz Bialkowski) has had another save to make. Derby are quite a technical side, at times they made it quite difficult for us to really get as much of a foothold in the game as we’d have liked.
“It was a fairly even encounter where we just haven’t quite had the quality to hurt them enough.
“That’s the disappointment really, because I felt it was a game that was there to be won. Like I said, Derby are in a difficult situation and they’ve not won many games and when it’s like that you’ve got to make sure you turn the heat on a little bit. We didn’t turn the heat on at all.
“It ended up being quite a tepid second half from us. We didn’t do enough to open Derby up, that was the disappointment.”