Derby County midfielder Korey Smith has been at the club for over a year now, but finally scored his first goal for the club.
It came as the first of three for the Rams in their 3-1 win away at Blackpool on Tuesday night, with James Collins and Martyn Waghorn also so corny to secure their fourth away win in five.
Despite scoring for the first time, Smith was more concerned about the three points that Derby have taken back to Pride Park, pushing the Rays up to seventh in the table, a point outside the play-offs.
Korey Smith says it’s about the team
“I scored in pre-season so that counts surely,” Smith joked to the Derby Telegraph. “But it came at an important time and was really good for us. But listen, it’s about the team. I am happy and my kids will be buzzing with the goal. It went to 2-1, but the subs came on and were brilliant as well.
“They made an impact and if you look at the bench it was amazing. The performances in the last few weeks have been brilliant. If you look, we may have drawn a couple but if you look at the games we’ve been very good. I just want everybody to stick with us and hopefully, we can keep pushing up the table. There is a long way to go.”
Korey Smith on ‘little bit of revenge’ in win
Derby have already played Blackpool this season, losing 2-0 at home in the first round of the EFL Cup, which Smith said motivated the players to win this time around.
“I am just so pleased for the team to be honest. The work and the belief – it just felt like everybody was together.
“It was a tough place to come. They came down from the Championship last season but we just wanted to get a little bit of revenge maybe when they dominated us in the cup.
“We had that in the back of our heads. I am just really proud of the boys and it was a brilliant performance. We’ve conceded two goals in the last five games as well so we’ve just got to keep going. The performances have really picked up.”