Joe Worrall praised Nottingham Forest's defensive resolve after their 2-1 win against Luton Town on Saturday.
The Reds bounced back from defeats to Wigan and Hull with a disciplined performance at Kenilworth Road with the central defender convinced they were well worth the three points.
"It was really good. It's a really tight ground and a tight pitch," he said.
"We let them have a bit of possession. We invited them on to us and we hit them on the counter attack.
"One hundred percent we deserved to win. Luton are a good team and they did really well last year.
"They're slowly getting used to the Championship. The way we performed, with our backs against the wall at some points, was a testament to the lads.
"The steel we have shown to get us up the league was back after two defeats."
Forest, who are up to fifth in the Championship, came under late pressure after Callum McManaman scored a fine goal with three minutes to go.
It was a rare scare, although Worrall was called on to clear after Brice Samba dropped a cross in stoppage time.
It might have been a tense finish for
the 1,017 Reds at Kenilworth Road, but former England Under-21 defender Worrall was in no doubt they would see the game out.
"Their lad scored a really good goal. Maybe we could have defended it a bit better, but I don't think they troubled us too much otherwise in the game," he said.
"They got some crosses in down our right hand side. It's nothing that me and Toby (Tobias Figeuiredo) didn't deal with.
"We dug in and didn't give them a lot of possession around our box. A shout out for Ryan Yates. He came in and dominated the midfield with Watson and Tiago.
"We were itching to play and put things right."
