A modest Joe Ford paid tribute to the efforts of his Leicester Tigers teammates after their Premiership win over Wasps.

Ford was instrumental in the side’s victory, taking all 19 of Leicester’s points on the day and scooping both LeoVegas Fans’ Favourite and Gallagher Premiership Man of the Match awards at the final whistle.

“It’s probably testament to how well the forwards went, and having players like Kyle Eastmond outside me certainly helps,” he explained.

“Obviously it went well today with the kicking, but playing alongside some of the players on the pitch it makes my job very easy. It’s as much them as it is me.”

Tigers lost both Ben White and replacement nine Sam Harrison to injury in the first half, leaving Ford to share scrum-half duties with Jonah Holmes and forcing back-rower Will Evans to cover the wing for a large portion of the match.

Ford said: “It was all hands on deck at one stage, but we managed to work it out and did a good job.

“Sometimes when that happens the team just galvanises together and it was one of those at half time.

“We said we’ve got all the excuses in the world now to go and lose this game, but fair play to Tom Youngs, he didn’t allow it and the lads came out [in the] second half and did a great job.”

A season high of 25,258 fans packed into Welford Road for the Round 15 clash, and their support was crucial, as Ford explained.

“It was unbelievable,” he said. “Certainly in that last 10 minutes when we were defending, they just gave us that lift when we needed it.

“We’ve had a few tough losses now, so just to get the win and get some confidence is everything.

“Like Geordan said, it’ll be massive for us going forward and gets us back in the mix of that top six, top four, and that’s massive.

“It’s one game at a time and seeing where it gets us.”