Nathaniel Mendez-Laing has explained what gave Derby County a massive ‘boost’ in their win over Bolton Wanderers.
If Derby County lost to Bolton this weekend, they would have been eliminated from the automatic promotion slots in League One.
The Rams were looking for their fourth straight victory, while their guests had drawn two of their previous three games. Despite this, there was only one point separating the two teams.
It was a daunting task for Derby, and as the game’s closing ten minutes approached, it appeared as though they might have to settle for a draw.
But when Kane Wilson eventually opened the score, Ian Evatt’s team could not neutralise him and the home crowd went into a frenzy.
With the win, the Midlands team now sits four points clear of Portsmouth in second place. If they defeat Portsmouth the following month, they might close the gap to just two points.
Going into this week, the victory has kept players and fans content, and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing has acknowledged that the Rams’ supporters were the difference-maker.
“It was a tough one, we had to dig in there,” the winger remarked in an interview with journalist Austin McKillen. It wasn’t the most elegant performance, but at this point in the season, winning is all that matters, and we’ve succeeded in that.
“They made a massive difference and it’s important,” Mendez-Laing said in response to a question regarding the supporters’ role in the three points. We had already stated before the game that we would need them, and their loud and proud response provided us a huge boost.
Derby County v Portsmouth – upcoming fixtures
Derby County, who travel to Portsmouth in a few weeks, will feel as though they are very much in the running for the League One championship at this point.
With the Rams gearing up to take on Northampton Town and Blackpool before to their south coast trip, anything might happen in the interim.
Northampton, who is presently ranked 14th in the league, has only won once in their last seven games and has only triumphed once in their previous six home games.
Blackpool, on the other hand, has won five of their previous 13 away games and lost two of their previous seven games, placing them three points outside of the play-off spots.
Derby will look to win both of those games in order to grab as many points as possible, while Pompey’s sole remaining game is against Wycombe Wanderers before they play the Rams.
The Chairboys are playing well, but because of their extra-curricular fixture, Paul Warne’s team may find themselves at the top of the table if they defeat Pompey.
