Phillip Cocu wants his Derby County side to grasp the opportunity to make home advantage count this week.
Derby face back-to-back home games under the Pride Park Stadium floodlights in the Sky Bet Championship either side of the New Year with the festive fixtures coming thick and fast.
They will take on Charlton Athletic in their final game of 2019 on Monday evening (7:45pm kick-off), before kicking off 2020 on home turf against Barnsley on Thursday night (7:45pm kick-off).
After picking up a hard-earned point on the road at Wigan Athletic on Boxing Day, with Martyn Waghorn striking in injury-time to earn a 1-1 draw, Cocu wants his side to build on that result.
Derby have tasted defeat on home turf just twice this season and Cocu wants his side, with the home fans driving them on, to step up to the plate as they look to climb the Championship table.
“We know that we have to end 2019 well and start in the right way in 2020,” Cocu told RamsTV.
“We saw at Wigan with the fans backing us again with huge numbers and that is a great feeling.
“That is also a huge part in the game that they still believe in us and together with the team and this spirit, courage and bravery to play, we have all the confidence that we can have a good two games at Pride Park.”
Charlton sit one point and one place above Derby in mid-table, while Barnsley find themselves in the relegation zone after 24 matches – but the Rams’ boss is taking nothing for granted.
Cocu says the focus is very much on building on the positives he’s seen from his side and remaining focussed as they look to return to winning ways.
He said: “It is very important for us to have the chance to get some good results in these games against sides around us.
“We just focus on the games and don’t think too much about what ifs and things like that, you just have to continue. In the last two games against Reading and also at Wigan, we saw some good stuff and that is something we have to focus on in the home games and the results will come.”