Johnson praises gutsy City

Former Derby striker Andreas Weimann showed some trickery to finish from close range before Josh Brownhill pounced just before the break for a 2-0 half-time lead.

City’s first win at Derby since 2011 ended with a valiant rear-guard action which saw Derby’s Jack Marriott claim a goal back.

 But Johnson’s men held strong and here's what the head coach had to say.

NEW TEAM

“It’s a new team and we have learnt a lot about our team today. We have learnt that we can cope without having the ball, still be dangerous on the counter, still set the press and win a game away from home against a very good team like Derby."

TROJAN DEFENCE

“I’m absolutely delighted. It was a bit of a nail-biter in the last 10 minutes and I apologise for that! It’s not a bad finish from Jack Marriott to be fair. It was backs against the wall in the second half but in saying that I still thought we controlled the game without possession. I think the fans enjoyed what was a very different performance today – it was one about guts and the boys defended like Trojans.”

TIME TOGETHER

“We have only really had a week to get our pressing going. If you take actual sessions, we’ve had about six so I am delighted with the lads, both in their attitude and application to games and training. That showed with the second goal because it was a good press, similar to the one we worked on to get Benik’s goal at home against QPR.

“There is still lots of things to work on but what a way to go about it improving, getting wins as we go. It builds that rapport within the squad and there was a nice little sing-song in the dressing room after."

ENERGY

“The boys had to protect Han-Noah (Massengo) – he’s an 18-year-old kid but what an 18-year-old! I was really pleased with the back five and how they defended but also the midfielders’ energy. Weimann has run his socks off too and obviously it was a good change with Famara coming on for Benik who had worked so hard as well.”