Derby County’s assistant manager Liam Rosenior has showered praise on Reggae Boy midfielder Ravel Morrison after the Rams ended a three-match streak without a win to beat fellow English Championship strugglers Barnsley 2-0.
The former Manchester United midfielder Morrison scored in the 22nd minute with a sumptuous dink and again on 47 minutes – his first goals in the league since April 2014 – and struck the woodwork in Derby’s 2-0 win at Pride Park on Saturday.
Derby is currently six points from safety after being docked 21 points – nine points after admitting breaches of English Football League accounting rules and a further 12 for entering administration in September.
The 29-year-old Morrison, a former Manchester United player alongside current Derby manager Wayne Rooney, said: “I’m buzzing, buzzing to get back on the scoresheet, and it’s a massive three points for us and the club.
“I thought it [the first goal] was offside! That’s the only reason why I dinked it! And then I looked over at the linesman, and the flag was down, so that was a massive relief.”
Rosenior said: “Ravel has always had the ability, but his work rate, not just in this game but the last three that he’s started, sums up what this team is about. They don’t give up. They fight to the end.
“Obviously, Wayne [Rooney] knew Ravel from when he was a young player at Manchester United, and when you see him every day in training, his ability is outstanding.
“He’s affecting the game exactly where we want him to, which is in the final third, and we’ve worked really hard, showing him clips, having meetings with him to prepare him for this, and I think it’s a great stage for him now.
“He’s really enjoying it, we demand commitment, we demand work rate, and I’m not saying he’s never given us that but, in terms of his energy and pressing today, that makes you just as happy as the moments of quality he brings, and he was absolutely outstanding.
