Tom Lawrence completes fightback for upwardly mobile Derby against Swansea | Football

Things seem to be clicking for Derby County at just the right time. Phillip Cocu’s side continue to creep up the Championship table after Tom Lawrence lashed home the winning goal in a topsy-turvy game to earn their first away league win since the opening day.

This season has been a slow-burner for Derby but, after a victory at Swansea in which they fought back from 2-1 down, they are poised for a late play-off push. As Cocu acknowledged, it is no coincidence that their upturn in fortunes corresponds with Wayne Rooney’s arrival last month, having won six of their nine matches since the former England striker pulled on a Derby shirt for the first time

“I think he is a decent player,” joked Cocu. “Of course, it is no surprise because he is a quality, class player but also a good character and a link-up between the technical staff and the players.

“We have somebody on the pitch that when we discuss one or two options before the game, I only have to wave and call his name and then [we can change tactics] and that gives something extra to us. He speaks a lot to the young players, he gives organisation and also works together with Martyn Waghorn. He has a lot of influence on other players and the team benefits from it.”

The main beneficiaries at Derby are undoubtedly the teenage academy graduates Jason Knight and Max Bird, with the latter’s driving run kickstarting the move which led to Lawrence powering in the winner 10 minutes from time. Duane Holmes, too, has relished the attacking freedom that Rooney’s arrival has generated and the midfielder hammered home his third goal in six matches to equalise with half an hour to play after Swansea scored two goals in two second-half minutes to cancel out Waghorn’s early opener.

This was far from a Rooney masterclass but there is no denying his impact, with the 34-year-old racking up another 90 minutes here – he has missed only 17 minutes of action across Derby’s nine matches this year. “It is easier for him now because when he joined us [as a player-coach in December] he was a lot in our office and we gave him all the insights into how we worked. We don’t have any secrets – I’m happy to be very open – but still he is one of the let’s say coaches during the games. Now he has seen how we work and is playing so his influence is only getting bigger and of course the team benefits from a world-class player like Rooney.”

Derby remain seven points off the play-off places but they have wrestled themselves into the chasing pack and on Wednesday travel to Bristol City, who also have their eyes fixed on a top-six finish, looking to extend their impressive form. Lee Johnson was among the interested spectators here and will surely have noted that his side cannot allow Lawrence as much room as Swansea did to strike. It was the rebound from Lawrence’s rasping shot that Waghorn scooped up after eight minutes to fire in the opener and the Wales international had the final say after goals by half-time substitute Yan Dhanda and Kyle Naughton had put Swansea into pole position.

“We have got to be careful that if we don’t start winning games the gap will get bigger and bigger, we’re aware of that,” said the Swansea manager Steve Cooper, whose side are four points adrift of the play-off places. “We have to react on Tuesday [against QPR]. We are in a part of the season where we have to win games, especially at home. It is frustrating because we shot ourselves in the foot, rather than make Derby work really hard to earn it.”