John Eustace revealed he was oblivious that Derby had dropped into the Sky Bet Championship drop zone before a 1-0 win at Hull propelled them out of the bottom three.
Luton’s last-gasp victory over Coventry in Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off meant the Rams fell into the final relegation place and it seemed they might stay there after creating little at the MKM Stadium.
But Nat Phillips headed home Craig Forsyth’s left-wing free-kick in the 84th minute to settle a low-quality contest as Derby lifted themselves up to 19th in the table, with Hull dropping to 22nd.
“We just prepared properly,” Derby head coach Eustace said. “The lads were focused on this game, that’s all we care about. It’s very important that we don’t get carried away with the highs and lows.
“You don’t look at the other clubs and what they’re doing, we concentrate on Derby County and we can control that. If we start worrying about other things, there will be problems.
“I was unaware that Luton had won, I’m sure the majority of the group were as well and we went about our business in the right way and got the right result.”
A momentous final day of the season awaits next weekend as Derby still need to beat Stoke at Pride Park to guarantee their second-tier status, with the Potters also not certain of survival.
“I’m really pleased with the three points, Eustace added. “Full credit to the players, they have handled the big occasion very well and now they’ve got to go and do it next week.”
The outcome of Derby’s clash with Stoke will be of critical importance for Hull, whose fate is still just about in their own hands if they can win at Portsmouth on the final day next Saturday.
Derby and Stoke are just one and two points above Hull respectively so Tigers head coach Ruben Selles insisted his side are not yet out of the running despite a major setback in East Yorkshire.
“I’m very disappointed with this result, it’s difficult to take but we have to accept it and know that if we win the last game of the season, we will be where we want to be,” Selles said.
“It’s now or never if we want to stay up – and we want to do it. Let’s prepare in the week, go for it with everything we have and I will demand everything from us.”
