Why former Swansea and Bristol City midfielder reserved ‘best performance’ for Derby against Blackpool

Korey Smith has said  ‘revenge’ was his main motivation prior to Derby’s 3-1 victory over Blackpool on Tuesday night.

The Rams midfielder revealed the Seasiders’ 2-0 EFL Cup victory at Pride Park back in August - when Jake Beesley scored twice for the visitors in the first half - still irked him and his team-mates.

So scoring Derby’s opening goal in their triumph at Bloomfield, along with collecting three valuable league points, proved hugely satisfying for the experienced 32-year-old, who celebrated his 54th-minute effort on his own before joining his Rams team-mates in front of their travelling fans.

The former Swansea and Bristol City favourite was also involved in all three Derby goals, with many claiming his display against Neil Critchley’s side was his best since his free-transfer move from the Swans in 2022.

Speaking after his side’s win, Smith told Derbyshire Live: ‘I am just so pleased for the team to be honest. The work and the belief - it just felt like everybody was together.

‘It was a tough place to come. They came down from the Championship last season but we just wanted to get a little bit of revenge maybe when they dominated us in the cup.

‘We had that in the back of our heads. I am just really proud of the boys and it was a brilliant performance. We’ve conceded two goals in the last five games as well so we’ve just got to keep going. The performances have really picked up.’

Tuesday’s defeat to the Rams was Blackpool’s first at Bloomfield Road this season and came following two impressive wins against Reading and Barnsley.

The loss sees Neil Critchley’s side sit 13th in the table heading into Saturday’s trip to Charton.