Clough delighted by Hulse showing

17 February 2010 09:23
Hulse declared himself fit despite struggling with a stomach upset in the run-up to the game, and the club's leading scorer played a key role at Pride Park as Derby made it three Championship wins in their last four games.[LNB]Tuesday night's victory moved the Rams into the top half of the table and continued their recent resurgence after victories against leaders Newcastle and local rivals Nottingham Forest.[LNB]Jon Parkin had put Preston in front, but a Billy Jones own goal pegged themback before Kris Commons put the home side ahead.[LNB]Chris Sedgwick restored parity but Hulse struck twice and Shaun Barker also netted, with Chris Brown scoring Preston's third in stoppage-time.[LNB]Clough said: "Having come out of his bed that he's been in with a stomach upset most of the day and last night, to get two goals and barge around I think I heard somebody say he should have a stomach upset more often![LNB]"We pencilled Chris Porter in and then he (Hulse) picked up a bit this afternoon and said, 'Well I'll give it a go, I'll start and see how long I can last'. But when that second one went in, he lasted a bit longer being on a hat-trick."[LNB]Clough was delighted with the way his side responded to being knocked out of the FA Cup by Birmingham on Saturday after conceding right at the death, and attributes their turnaround in fortunes to having a settled side after an injury-plagued campaign.[LNB]"Once again we saw the benefits of an unchanged side, a team playing with confidence and the most pleasing thing was how we reacted to the disappointment from Saturday," said Clough.[LNB]"We could have easily been in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, got knocked out in the 92nd minute.[LNB]"But we set about Preston from the first whistle and created plenty of chances and we'll forego a little bit of the defensive solidity we've had to score five goals, that's inevitable.[LNB]"We're not going to be that solid when we're going forward as much as we did tonight."[LNB]Preston boss Darren Ferguson slammed his side's defending and felt they gifted the Rams victory.[LNB]He said: "You can see where the problems lay, the goals we gave away.[LNB]"The ones in the second half, Derby have not even had to work for them.[LNB]"A blind man can see that is where the problem lay tonight.[LNB]"(It was) another set-piece we conceded from, and then the third, fourth and fifth goals were absolute nonsense.[LNB]"If you score three goals away from home you've got to expect to get something, to concede five goals at any level is absolute nonsense."[LNB][LNB]

Source: Team_Talk