Chris Baird was keen to look at the bigger picture following Derby County’s 1-0 defeat to Northampton Town on Tuesday night.
The loss was the Rams’ first of pre-season as Marc Richards’ first half finish proved enough for the Sky Bet League 1 side to claim victory at Sixfields Stadium.
Acting as Derby’s penultimate friendly match ahead of the 2017/18 season opener at Sunderland next Friday (4th August), Gary Rowett rotated his squad to ensure more of his players got a valuable 90 minutes under their belts.
For Baird that was far more important than the final outcome of the game against Justin Edinburgh’s side and looking back on pre-season as a whole, the former Northern Ireland international full-back says the Rams have so much to build on for the new campaign.
The 35-year-old told RamsTV: “We’re obviously disappointed with the result. I thought there was some good individual performances, but we know we can play a lot better.
“We had quite a few chances and we just didn’t take them. Credit to Northampton, they played well themselves and got the win.
“The bigger picture, however, is that we got another 90 minutes under our belts and we’re looking forward to the start of the season now.
“As a team, I think there are things that we can still do better. The manager will be working on that on the training pitch, but in terms of individual performances, there have been some really, really, good ones.
“The new boys have come in and settled straight away, which is great, and we have come along way over a tough pre-season.
“The boys are looking in good shape, have looked great on the training pitches and there have been some good things to come out of these games so far.
“It’s been enjoyable and we’re just really looking forward to the start of the new season.”
With the most of the squad now on a similar level in terms of match minutes, the competition for a starting spot for the opening day trip to the Stadium of Light is hot across the squad.
Whilst everyone is vying to be in Rowett’s team from the off next Friday, though, Baird – again looking at the bigger picture – says every player, whether they make the cut or not, need to be fully prepared and asking questions of the manager every day.
He added: “Everyone has a chance of playing and everyone has been out to impress the manager over this pre-season period.
“It’s down to the manager at the end of the day. You can only hope that you’re in that starting XI, but it’s a long season and a lot can happen.
“Things can happen, they can change, so every single one of us has to be ready.”