Ben Hamer says Derby County need to take the positive energy from their last-gasp equaliser against Wigan Athletic into their double-header on home turf.
Martyn Waghorn’s goal deep into added time earned the Rams a 1-1 draw at the DW Stadium on Boxing Day to pick up their first point on the road since the start of October.
Derby’s festive programme will continue with successive games at Pride Park Stadium against Charlton Athletic and Barnsley.
First up is the visit of Charlton on Monday night (7:45pm kick-off) in their final game of 2019, which is then quickly followed by Thursday evening’s clash with Barnsley (7:45pm kick-off) to get 2020 underway.
Hamer is now eyeing positive results under the Pride Park Stadium floodlights as the Rams seek to climb the Sky Bet Championship standings and return to winning ways.
The goalkeeper told RamsTV: “We have two home games coming up now and we need points.
“We aren’t in a great position in the league but after the game on Boxing Day we’ll be positive in training and look to get some wins under our belts, as we’ve not had one for a while.
“First up we have Charlton, one of my former clubs, and they’re around us in the table at the minute.
“We have to make our home form like it was recently when we went on that winning run and get some victories on the table and kick on.
“Come kick-off on Monday, we want to be all guns blazing and get the result we want for the fans.”
Hamer, who made some key saves in the draw at Wigan, believes Waghorn’s late strike a reward for the players refusing to give up.
The on-loan Huddersfield Town goalkeeper, who has started Derby’s last six games, hopes that the circumstances in which the point was gained on the road can be a building block for the side.
He said: “We needed that goal. The first half simply wasn’t good enough on Boxing Day; we couldn’t keep the ball and wasn’t up to our standards.
“We had a word at half-time and in the second half we were a bit better and alright to be honest, but then they got the goal to take the lead.
“It was another disappointing goal to give away because we really wanted that clean sheet away from home, but Waggy popped up for us and got the goal at the end.”
He added: “We kept going until the end and you have to keep plugging away. It wasn’t a pretty goal but we got it and it was a nice feeling for everyone.
“Instead of a negative feeling we’ve got a positive one and hopefully that will drive us on now.”