Wayne Rooney has made it clear that he expects a reaction from his Derby County players when they take on Coventry City on Saturday (3pm kick-off).
Derby were beaten 4-0 at Cardiff City in midweek and the trip across the Midlands to face Mark Robins’ Sky Blues offers a quickfire opportunity to respond.
Rooney shuffled his pack for the game at Cardiff City Stadium, making six changes from the 1-1 draw against Nottingham Forest last Friday, in order to provide a breather for several members of his squad.
Those who sat the game out included Colin Kazim-Richards, Nathan Byrne and Jason Knight, while Martyn Waghorn and Max Bird were late substitutes against the Bluebirds.
Coventry are two points and two places behind the Rams in the Sky Bet Championship table, with Derby occupying 18th spot after 33 matches and are six points clear of the bottom three.
Their impressive form under Rooney, first when he was in interim charge before taking the job permanently in January, has seen them move gradually move up the table.
Rooney knows there is still plenty of hard work ahead and believes if Derby can pick up three points this weekend then it would be classed as a big result for his side.
“We need to show a reaction again Saturday,” Rooney told RamsTV. “Coventry is a difficult game; we knew that before Tuesday’s result, so we have to make sure we prepare well and we are ready.
“Coventry work hard and have a lot of energy in their game. They try and play as well so we will have to be ready for that.
“After a defeat, the first thing you need to do is go back to basics and not over-complicate things.”
He added: “In the last few games – dropping points against Forest and then losing the game against Cardiff - we have been quite fortunate that results have been good for us.
“This is a game where if we can get three points, it will be a big three points. We know that if we are to win the game we have to make sure everyone is putting the work in.”
Reflecting on the loss at Cardiff, Rooney says it is a result his side must learn from moving forward.
“It was a disappointing result,” he said. “We knew it was always going to be a difficult game, Cardiff are in good form, are a good team and we conceded sloppy goals.
“The second goal they scored was offside, but I don’t think that would have made a big difference on the result.
“We had good possession, but we didn’t go anywhere with it. It is something we need to learn from.”
Goalkeeper David Marshall missed the Cardiff game with a back problem and is set to miss out again.
The Scotland international sustained the injury in the draw against Forest and was forced off in the first half of the local derby fixture.
Offering an update on his fitness, Rooney said: “David hasn’t trained with us today and we will see how he is on Friday morning.
“It is a long-shot for him to play Saturday.”