Wayne Rooney says Derby County will make the journey north to face Middlesbrough on Saturday afternoon in buoyant mood.
Derby will take on Chris Wilder’s side at the Riverside Stadium in their latest Sky Bet Championship fixture (3pm kick-off).
Rooney’s side were 3-1 winners over Hull City at Pride Park Stadium in midweek to move within four points of Reading, who sit directly outside the division’s relegation zone.
Derby produced an impressive showing against the Tigers as they picked up a deserved three points.
Middlesbrough are well in the hunt for a play-off place this term and they are only outside the top six on goal difference going into this weekend’s round of fixtures.
Although acknowledging his side face a tough test, Rooney believes his side should approach the game in a positive frame of mind.
“I thought we were excellent on Tuesday,” Rooney told RamsTV. “The way we performed had a bit of everything in it; three good goals and a much needed three points.
“We can take the confidence from that into tomorrow, as we know it’s going to be a tough one.
“Middlesbrough have got a really good manager and a good group of players, so we know what we’re up against.
“We have worked hard in our preparation over the last couple of days to make sure we are right.”
He added: “You can see what a great job Chris Wilder has done since he’s been in there.
“They are aggressive, they get the ball and are quite expansive and a difficult team to play against. It’s a challenge for us, but we have prepared well and we believe that if we go there and play the way we can, we will cause them problems.”
Derby have picked up seven of their nine wins in the Championship this season on home turf in front of their own fans.
Rooney’s side have collected up maximum points on the road at Hull City and Stoke City this term, but the Rams’ boss is confident that another away victory isn’t too far away.
“We would like a few more wins away from home, but we know what we have to do,” he said.
“We have to pick up points and we are a team that is very confident at the minute.
“We are going there to try and pick up all three points.”