Ian Evatt praised the united front on and off the pitch as Wanderers secured a morale-boosting win over Derby.
The Whites produced a top-class performance to overcome the 10-man Rams, who had keeper Joe Wildsmith sent off early in the second.
The sides had traded penalties by that stage and Evatt’s men went on to secure a deserved three points thanks to Josh Dacres-Cogley’s deflected effort as Wanderers were roared home by the fans to sit joint top of the table.
“I thought there was a huge amount of togetherness, a huge amount of positivity in the stadium and players can only react well to that so let’s just keep going with that,” said Evatt, whose side bounced back superbly from their sole defeat of the season to Wigan in their last home league game.
“Out of the blue, they got a penalty and goal - and it would have been easy for us to be rocked. It would have been easy for the players and easy for the stadium to feel sorry for ourselves.
“But I thought the stadium was rocking and the way they (the supporters) backed the players when we went behind lifted them immediately.
“The togetherness we’ve spoken about was there for all to see and when we’re like that as a unit – players, fans, staff, everybody, we’re a tough team to play against.”
Derby had won three of their last four games to get their challenge into gear but were no match for a Wanderers side which has now won four and drawn one of their opening six league games.
And Evatt was delighted to see his side produce the goods against a side hoping to challenge alongside the Whites at the top end of the League One table.
“I’m delighted with the performance and the result. For the first time really we’ve showed up against a direct competitor and played the way I know we can, which is very, very pleasing,” added the Whites’ boss.
“It has [been a good start], but it’s only the start. We just need to consistently put results together and this is really the first time that, other than the cup final against Plymouth, we’ve really shown our dominance against one of our direct competitors, which I’m delighted about.
“But it’s only three points. We need to keep the consistency, keep the belief, keep together and hopefully we’ll have a good season.”