Derby defensive delight for Davinson

Davinson Sanchez was encouraged by the way we reacted to a late West Ham fightback in Wednesday night’s Carabao Cup win.

Two fine finishes from Heung-Min Son had given us a commanding 2-0 lead at the London Stadium but, with 30 minutes to go, the Hammers brought on forwards Marko Arnautovic and Lucas Perez as they battled for a way back into the game.

The substitutions looked to have paid off for the home side as they found a lifeline through Perez with 19 minutes still to play but, just moments later, Fernando Llorente volleyed in his first goal of the season to ensure our place in the last eight of the competition.

That quick response to conceding was especially pleasing for defender Davinson, who was delighted we could maintain our focus and finish the game off.

“We were only worried about us,” explained our number six, who was excellent in defence all night. “The most important thing was always how we performed because at the end they put two, three strikers on, we had to be ready for that and try to play like always and see it through.

“Fernando then scored – and he really deserved his goal because he worked a lot. The team’s performance was very good.”

Colombian international Davinson reserved praise for fellow South American centre-back Juan Foyth, who produced a Man of the Match performance on his first start of the season.

“Juan played so well, he has so much confidence,” the defender smiled. “I think the most important thing was the team and we showed very good character.”

Davinson, 22, was the only player to start against West Ham who had also started against Manchester City on Monday night.

Two games in three days appeared to have little effect on him, though, and he admitted: “I feel good. You always have to be ready to help the team and the derby was a good match to show this in.

“We have to be ready. We have to keep performing and try to win the couple of games before the international break.”