Barker enjoys his return to Stadium MK after ‘unbelievable’ Derby win

Derby assistant-manager Richie Barker said he enjoyed his return to Stadium MK on Saturday as his side claimed all three points against MK Dons.

A clinical performance from the Rams saw them score with their only three efforts on goal on their second visit to Milton Keynes.

Barker was Karl Robinson’s number two for two-and-a-half years between 2014-16, and admitted it was one of the best times of his career, but was delighted to get one over on his former club.

“Firstly from a personal point of view it’s always nice to come back here,” he said. “I had a really good two-and-a-half years here and it’s one of the best I’ve had in my career.

“The most important thing is the three points, three goals, the character of coming back from a goal behind, set-piece goals and defending set-pieces really well.

“But more importantly than that is the unbelievable effort from a group of players who on Wednesday night played against a team in which some players were in a Champions League final last season. We had a day’s less rest and we could have quite easily used that as an excuse.

“I’ve been to this stadium numerous times over the last few years and have seen them really dominate and make it very difficult to get the ball off them. We set up in a way like we did a couple of years ago when we came here with Rotherham.

“We set them a bit of challenge and what I would say about the group is we only had yesterday to work on it.”