Gary Rowett hailed the character of Curtis Davies after revealing that the defender has battled through injury to be available for Derby County’s trip to Norwich City on Saturday.
Davies completed the full game as Rowett’s side secured back-to-back Sky Bet Championship wins against Sheffield Wednesday last weekend, but the experienced defender had to play through the pain barrier after suffering a shoulder injury during the first half.
The Rams now face consecutive away games, with the trip to Carrow Road followed by a tough test at Leeds United next Tuesday (31st October), and Rowett believes that Davies’ mindset is the sort that can pull a team through a difficult run of fixtures.
He told RamsTV: “His shoulder seemed to pop out and then back in again. There’s not many players that would do that and be happy to carry on, but Curtis is one of those old school players that just soldiers on through.
“We want ability, but we also want character. For me that is what will win you games against the likes of Norwich and it gets you results at places like Cardiff, when we drew 0-0 there recently.
“If you go there only looking to play great football and you come up short, then that is going to be a problem in the Championship, because it’s that type of league.
“When the chips are down, sometimes you have to dig in. You want a little bit of everything, but character is a trait that I value very, very highly.”
Daniel Farke’s Norwich side endured a difficult start to the season but their form has since picked up and they haven’t lost in the league since August, winning five and drawing three.
The Canaries’ defensive record has been exceptional since the August international break, conceding just two goals in those eight games, and Rowett identified the change as a key moment in their season so far.
He said: “I think that they were very expansive in the first part of the season, but very open defensively and they conceded quite a few goals.
“I think after the international break there was a marked difference in the way that they play and how they approach games, they’re good going forward and they still have excellent movement but they have those two defensive midfielders that give them that little bit of balance, just like we have.
“They’re a solid team but they’ve also got a lot of attacking threat. They played extra time in the week, I don’t know how that will affect them or if they picked up any knocks.”