“The gaffer put it in our heads that if we beat them for the third time we’d be setting a record, so I think we gave it a little extra for that and it showed. The performance today was fantastic and we deserved the three points,” Carroll told the official site.
“The fans were fantastic and it was great to win the last game of the season at home for them. The fans gave us a big lift, and we played the football we know we can play - hopefully we can take that into next season.
“Even before [Kaboul’s] sending off I thought we were dominating and I don’t think they caused us any problems. We were confident all the way through the game and it was great to score so soon after the red card.
“I’m going to claim the goal, every striker would, especially as I haven’t scored too many this season. We’ll have to watch it back, but I’ll claim it!”
“It was very important to make sure we ended here with a result. After all the work we put in it would have been a shame to end with six games without a win.
“We’ve put a stop to that, we’ve got one more left and hopefully we can do something at Man City.
“It’s been tough throughout the season, but we’ve worked hard. We’re in the Premier League for next season and that’s all that matters really.”