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Danny Fox was superb for Nottingham Forest in the derby on Sunday. He was my man of the match by a long way.

He made some great blocks. He was strong. He was solid. He’s come on leaps and bounds in the last few weeks under Aitor Karanka.

I’ve always been a little bit critical of Fox because he’s been too inconsistent in the past. He’d come in and play well for two or three games, then it looked like he’d got complacent and would take a step backwards.

But now he seems to be getting better every week. He’s had a good run in the team and has played well for the last few weeks. He just needs to keep up that level of performance.

I think he’s benefitting from playing alongside Tobias Figueiredo, who has been very, very good. Figueiredo heads it and kicks it, and he’s comfortable on the ball.

Those two seem to have struck up a good partnership in the centre of the defence, and it was a very good performance by them against Derby County.

No-one really knew what to expect when Figueiredo came in. We didn’t know much about him and hadn’t really seen him play. We didn’t know how he’d cope with English football. But he’s taken to it straight away.

It just goes to show, you have to trust the manager and have faith in his decisions.

That’s the first time for ages that we’ve kept successive clean-sheets. That’s a huge positive. And you have to give a lot of credit to the defence and the goalkeeper for that.

(Image: Dan Westwell)

Derby had the best chances on Sunday, but Costel Pantilimon made two great saves to keep them out.

He’s been brilliant. He talks – I like that. It makes the game so much easier when you’ve got people rabbiting on and talking to each other, telling people what they need to do and where they need to be.

It was so important for Karanka to sort the defence out when he came in.

What’s the use of scoring goals if you’re going to concede five at the other end?

The good teams don’t concede many goals. That’s how you’re successful.

If you keep it tight at the back, the attacking players know that just one goal could win it. You give yourselves a chance.

The manager needed to get more clean-sheets out of the defence, and that’s what he’s done.

When you start doing that, it becomes quite an easy job. You start doing things automatically.

You wouldn’t think we were one of the leakiest back lines in the league not so long ago.

At the minute, Joe Worrall and Michael Mancienne are going to struggle to get back in the team, unless someone gets injured.

(Image: Dan Westwell)

Mancienne’s not really had a great season. He’s not played as well as Fox or Figueiredo, so I don’t think he can have any complaints about finding himself down the pecking order.

And I did say at the start of the season that Worrall shouldn’t be playing every game. He’s a young lad and he will benefit from spending some games sat in the stands or on the bench, watching and learning; looking at what his team-mates do. He still needs to learn his trade.

I still maintain that he will be Forest captain one day. But very seldom do you come into the team as a young player as the finished article. In fact, you are never the finished article. You are always learning. It’s the same for young Worrall.

There’s a good spine of the team now, with the goalkeeper, the centre-halves, and Ben Watson and Jack Colback in front of them. The attacking players are helping out, too.

Right down the middle of the park, you have to make sure you are solid enough. And I think we’re getting there.

There was a time when you’d never see one of our players give one of their team-mates a rollicking. We’d be down and struggling in some games, and you wouldn’t hear a peep out of anyone.

We lacked leaders. But I think we’re starting to put that right.

We’ve got experienced players in there like Watson and Lee Tomlin. Players who know the score and know what they’ve got to do. They don’t want to be running 30 or 40 yards for nothing, so they’re telling people where to put the ball, telling them what they should be doing.

That experience is vital. We’ve brought in seasoned pros who will put a performance in near enough every game.