A stoppage-time strike from Ben Osborn secured an unlikely victory, Forest coming from behind to secure their first victory since November and stem the tide of four straight defeats.
Former England right back Danny Mills, who played under Pearce at Manchester City, had described the Forest boss as a limited tactician and poor motivator ahead of the game.
But Osborn revealed the team had been inspired by an impassioned team talk from their manager and Pearce suggested that his former player was just harbouring an old grudge.
""I know Danny Mills very well. I worked with him at Manchester City, I put Micah Richards in the team in front of him, Nedum Onuoha too. Danny gets paid to make observations on football, and I'll accept anything he's got to say," former England full back Pearce told the BBC.
"My respect goes to people like Steve McClaren, Tony Pulis, Harry Redknapp, people who have spent hundreds and thousands of games in the technical area.
"That's where my real respect lies in football."
"Judge me at the end of the season. Is this a better football club than we were last season? I say yes, but we have to keep working, hopefully this will spark us on," he added.
Pearce, who played 78 times for England, took the reins at twice European champions Forest in the close season and led them to the top of the league after seven games.
But their form declined and the 52-year-old was under heavy pressure after winning two in 20 matches before the trip to Derby.
Mills said he was not surprised by Forest's dismal run.
"He comes in, everyone says 'wow, it's Stuart Pearce, legend, Psycho' and all of that and he has that instant respect," Mills told BBC radio on Friday.
"He gets teams going but after a while, players aren't stupid, they're not naive and they start to suss him out. He doesn't have the depth of football ability to back it up.
"Actually, he is not a great coach, he's not a great tactician, he's not a great motivator and he struggles with big players who question his authority."
(Reporting by Sam Holden, editing by Ed Osmond and Martyn Herman)
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