Jewell delighted with Rams victory at Carrow Road

Jewell delighted with Rams victory at Carrow Road

The Rams showed at Carrow Road on Saturday the win at Loftus Road last week was not a flash in the pan and their second win on the bounce gives the Rams fans some optimism in season 2008-09. Rams boss Paul Jewell praised the character of his side after the dismissal of goalkeeper Roy Carroll to claim the 2-1 victory.

The Rams made it six matches without defeat with on-loan striker Nathan Ellington taking advantage of an error from Norwich goalkeeper David Marshall to grab the all important winner late on.

Last season the Rams would have succumb to most teams but they came through despite having to play the final 40 minutes with 10 men after Carroll had been sent off for bringing down Leroy Lita.

Sammy Clingan scored from the penalty spot to equalise Rob Hulse’s first-half header but Jewell was understandably proud of his team backs to the wall performance.

‘We showed the sort of character that was sadly lacking last season,’ he said.

‘If we’d conceded a penalty and gone down to 10 men then we would probably have folded like a pack of cards.

‘But full credit to the lads, they showed great determination and great fitness levels as well after the sending-off.

‘I don’t think Stephen Bywater (Derby’s substitute goalkeeper) had a single shot to make.

‘Without playing the greatest football we are now proving resilient and extremely difficult to beat.

‘To be fair it was probably a good time to play Norwich because they had to go into the game without a recognised centre-half.’

Jewell, who has been under a great deal of pressure this season, was rewarded for making a positive substitution 14 minutes from time when he replaced midfielder Steven Davies with Ellington, rather than playing with just one up front in the final stages.

‘We went one up front for a while after they had equalised and the ball kept coming back to us too quickly, he said.

‘I just felt it would be better if we had two men up front to keep their defence more occupied – attack seemed to be the best form of defence and, in the end, so it proved.

‘Obviously there was a touch of luck with the goal because their keeper seemed to make a big error of judgement but Nathan still had to stick it away.’

Jewell had no complaints about the penalty decision but felt Carroll was unlucky to see red.

‘I think it would have been fair to both sides if it had been a penalty and a yellow card – but that’s not how it seems to happen these days,’ he added.

The Rams winner came from a mistake from keeper David Marshall but Norwich manager Glenn Roeder leapt to the defence of his goalkeeper, saying: ‘As well as Marshall played for us last year he has become an even better keeper this season.

‘Today he has made his first mistake of the season and got punished for it. Sometimes as a keeper you get away with things like that but they have taken advantage of it and obviously it’s cost us the game.

‘Adam Drury had things covered and there was no need for David to come out but, as I said, he has been excellent for us so far this season.’