Liam Rosenior says it is important for everyone in the Derby County camp to focus on moving forward together ahead of tonight’s Sky Bet Championship fixture at home to Cardiff City (7:45 kick-off).
Phillip Cocu’s side will take on the Bluebirds under the Pride Park Stadium floodlights as they look to build on the encouraging performance in last Friday’s 1-1 draw at local rivals Nottingham Forest.
Derby’s start to the 2020/21 season has been a slow burner, picking up four points from their opening seven fixtures, but Rosenior is confident Derby are on the right track to climb the table.
Rosenior, who holds the position of Specialist First Team Coach on Cocu’s backroom team, has stressed that there is no point dwelling on the Rams’ start to the season.
The 36-year-old believes it is important for the Rams to channel their energy into producing positive performances and results.
“We need to forget the past and concentrate on the now,” Rosenior told RamsTV.
“I was fortunate to watch Cardiff against Fulham in the play-off semi-final second leg at the end of last season and they were outstanding and very unlucky not to go through on the night.
“We know it’s going to be a physical test and they’ve got real quality in the wide areas. We need to stand up to their threat, but we need to play our game too.
“We need to make sure we are on the front foot, aggressive and dominant in the way that we want to play. If we do that then we have a really good chance of getting a result.”
Tonight’s meeting with Cardiff is quickly followed by a long journey south to face AFC Bournemouth on Saturday afternoon (3pm kick-off).
Rosenior says there’s confidence and belief that the Rams can enjoy a positive week on the pitch ahead of back-to-back home matches against Queens Park Rangers and Barnsley next week.
Derby’s performances have been encouraging in recent weeks and Rosenior is convinced that the consistency in performances will yield good results.
“I believe in the end that if you are consistent in your performances then you will get consistent and positive results,” he said. “We need to turn it around ourselves, so that’s the message now going into the next two games.
“It will be a really physical challenge against Cardiff and another really difficult away game against another recently relegated Premier League team in Bournemouth on Saturday, but we have faith and belief in the players that they will prove us right.
“What we have to take confidence in is our performance levels. We are building in the right direction but aware that we need results, because it is a huge football club here at Derby County.”
He added: “For all of these good things to happen, we need to get points on the board. We need to keep believing and fighting for each other. I’m sure that will change.”