Cardiff boss Omer Riza was delighted to see his side beat Derby 2-1, a result which rocketed them up to 18th in the Championship.
Inspired by goals from Callum Robinson, his 11th of the season, and Anwar El Ghazi, the Bluebirds made it eight games without defeat as they moved four points clear of the Rams down in the bottom three.
“It was a really important game. Swansea’s a really big game, Millwall was a tough game but this one was what we really needed,” said Riza after seeing his side make it seven points in a week.
“We’ve faltered when we’ve needed to take those points and climb with a bit of space between us and the teams around us. We did that today and that’s a really important step.
“It’s extra pleasing because we need it. There are still elements there I feel we could do better because we could make life easier for ourselves.
“We’ve got to a point now where we’re winning our battles against the opposition, first and second balls, but we weren’t doing that in the first half. They won first balls, they won second balls and it didn’t allow us to play with any flow.
“It was important [at half-time] we showed them clips of the very few occasions we did play three or four passes and actually opened them up. So, in the second half we came out with a bit more composure on the ball, we played through them and we got our rewards.
“This unbeaten run is really important because it’s come after we didn’t win in nine. There was always an element of competitiveness in those games but we weren’t doing what we’re doing now.”
While Riza is building an impressive unbeaten sequence, opposite number Paul Warne is reflecting on a seven-match losing streak in all competitions.
“It was a classic game of two halves and the first goal was always going to be crucial. Neither set of players wanted to lose because of the importance of the win,” said Derby boss Warne.
“I might be a bit biased, but I thought the goal we scored in the first half was onside, but we didn’t make the most of our chances. I also thought we should have had a penalty in the second half.
“It’s not that we have been playing badly, and we came here feeling really confident. There wasn’t much between the two sides, and they got booed off at the end of the first half.
“We had to come out in the second half and stay in the fight, but those two goals in quick succession took the game away from us. Games like these come down to small margins and today we were on the wrong side of them.”
