Derby boss John Eustace insists his side will “fight until the end” for Sky Bet Championship survival after they earned an important 2-0 win over Coventry.
The Rams took the lead midway through the first half when Marcus Harness’ free-kick found the head of Matt Clarke and he made no mistake in nodding home from close range.
The hosts started the second half brightly and had their rewards three minutes after the interval as Callum Elder’s shot was blocked into the path of Harness, who slotted in his first goal since October.
Six points from six took Derby to within a point of Cardiff who are in 21st and Eustace could not hide his delight at the attitude his side showed.
He said: “Very proud of the effort of the group. The heart and desire they showed tonight after a tough game on Saturday to do it again tonight was outstanding.
“We’re fighting for our lives. We want to stay in the league, we’re fighters not victims, that’s the mentality we are trying to push to these players.
“Tonight we showed the never-say-die attitude. When we went ahead we looked comfortable and full credit to the players.
“It’s important we have that siege mentality where we are being written off and people think we are down. It’s going to be a difficult ask to keep us up but we will fight until the end.”
Derby could move out of the relegation zone on the weekend but face a trip to fellow relegation fighters Plymouth on Saturday.
Eustace insists the squad are now focused on the job in hand on the weekend.
He added: “They’re happy but focused. We understand there are nine games to go and we have to keep being competitive.
“Everyone understands the seriousness of the situation we are in. It’s very important to understand there will be difficult moments coming up as well.
“We don’t want to get too high with the highs and too low with the lows. Stay very focused and take each game as it comes.”
Following five consecutive wins, Coventry slipped to a first defeat in over a month since their 2-0 loss to Leeds at the start of February.
Frank Lampard understands difficult nights like the one on Tuesday are part of the process.
He said: “Off the back of the run we’ve been on we have to understand these nights can come.
“We have to be balanced about that. As much as it’s not nice, it’s not realistic to keep winning and winning.
“There are things we want to do better but we have to be realistic in the big scheme of things.
“From where we were to where we are now is a big positive – and one negative result I won’t sit here and criticise the group. We have to go again.”
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