Davies: Forest were second best

Rob Hulse headed the only goal of the game after 78 minutes as Forest missed the chance to temporarily rejoin league leaders Newcastle at the summit.It was a losing return to Pride Park for Davies on his first visit to Pride Park since his departure as Rams boss in November 2007. The Scot missed the FA Cup tie between the two sides last season as his son was ill in hospital.Davies accepted his former club coped better with the derby atmosphere but refused to criticise his players following the end of the club's 19-game unbeaten league run."It was a scrappy affair. They did a good job of stopping us play and we never got started," said Davies."We looked a bit more like ourselves at the start of the second half but we didn't get going and that was disappointing."Derby coped better with the type of game it was and that is a lesson to these young players. We had too many at five and six out of 10 today."But am I going to criticise these players? Not a chance. I am very proud of what they have done so far this season - they have been top class."They are allowed off-days, they are a good group who are learning and improving all the time and this is another learning curve for them."On his return to Pride Park, Davies added: "I had a great time here and I am very proud of what we achieved here in the 11 months I was in charge."I still have a lot of friends at the football club and if this three points helps them avoid relegation then I am delighted for them."Derby coach Johnny Metgod hopes the Rams have set the standard for the remainder of the season with the 1-0 win.He said: "We have got to try to get some sort of consistency going and we have to make sure this is repeated for the rest of the season."This is the benchmark for that. We have had it before against big teams and then the next game has been totally different."Maybe it is because the players don't feel the pressure as much as people don't expect a win. Whereas playing lower teams people not only expect a win but they want you to win and won't stand for anything else but a win."It is not about playing well and playing out of your skin, but about doing everything you can to win a game. If you do that as a team you have a chance of getting success."

Source: Team_Talk