Rams striker scores a hat-trick

It was a great day at the office for Rams striker Steve Howard on Saturday, his brace of goals, which took the Rams back on top of the Coca-Cola Championship, would have been rewarded with a bonus from the gaffer (if he wasn`t Scottish!!), and it would have been a great celebration for the 30-year-old. But over the weekend the big striker completed his hat-trick with the arrival of a new baby girl to the Howard household.

Howard went into Saturday`s game, unsure of his wives condition and with the thought in his mind that he was about to become a father for the second time with his wife due to give birth at any moment. But after delivering on the pitch he dashed home ready for his new arrival, and he had an even special delivery.

Rams boss Billy Davies was pleased for, as he calls him - 'The big fella` and he joked that the striker had deliberately got himself disciplined so that he could spend more time to bottle feed his new addition to the family. But Howard laughed of the suggestion when he spoke to the clubs official web site. "I wouldn't get myself booked deliberately for that!' was his response before heading off to be with his wife for the birth.

The only problem he had was the booking, his tenth of the season, and that rules him out for two matches. He said: 'I'll take the booking on the chin though.
"It's a crucial time of the season and I really wanted to play in all of the games but it's one of those things I'll have to deal with.
"I took the penalty then got booked, so I thought I needed to score another one as I've now got two games off."

Howard was delighted with the way the Rams battled back from being rocked by a quick Cardiff equaliser. He added: "I thought we played brilliantly in the second half.
"We passed the ball well, defended very well, and if we play like that from the start we won't lose many.
"It was a massive win, a big game and we got the performance we needed.
"If you get beat before the break you've got two weeks to stew over it so it was good to get the points, especially against Cardiff who were up there."

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