Wayne Rooney is calling for one more big effort from his Derby County players as they look to go into the fourth and final international break of the 2021/22 season on a high note.
Derby will face Coventry City at Pride Park Stadium on Saturday afternoon (12:30pm kick-off) in front of the Sky Sports cameras looking to maintain their impressive run of form on home turf this term.
The game offers the Rams a chance to bounce back from the away defeats at AFC Bournemouth (2-0) and Blackburn Rovers (3-1) in the last week.
Despite their pointless return on the road, Derby are still six points adrift of safety with eight matches remaining in the Sky Bet Championship campaign.
The chance to stay in the second tier is on the agenda after Rooney’s side have bravely fought against a 21-point deduction for entering administration and a historical breach of profitability and sustainability rules.
In addition, several players left the club in the January Transfer Window and a number of youngsters from the club’s Under-23 and Under-18 squads have stepped up to the senior fold.
Rooney believes a positive result against the Sky Blues would set Derby up nicely for a big push the final seven fixtures of the league campaign.
Ahead of the clash with Coventry, the Derby boss has heaped praise on his players for their efforts during the season.
“You can get carried away when you lose a game or when you win, I’ve said that all season, and we have an opportunity now to put right the last two matches,” Rooney told RamsTV.
“People also forget that in the last two games we’ve played the teams that are second and fourth in the table away from home.
“In large portions of those matches we dominated the play with a group of Academy players and a sprinkling of senior players. What they are achieving, and what they are doing, is incredible so we just have to find a way to win games.
“It’s easy to forget just how well they have done. For instance, in November, we were on minus three points, so if you would have told all of us that going into the March international break we would be six points off it, and potentially three points off it, then we would have all taken that in a heartbeat.
“The lads have been great; we’ve got an opportunity to end this run of games on a positive. We want to go into that international break on a high and ready to roll our sleeves up on the pitch for those final seven games of the season.”
He added: “When I look at the training session today, the togetherness and spirit in the group and the banter between players, is excellent to see.
“After the defeats we have had, it’s easy to feel low but the team have picked themselves up, are ready for tomorrow’s game and we know what a good team we are. We know we are still fighting to stay in the league and it’s very much a possibility that can happen, so we have to keep fighting.”
Coventry are five points adrift of the top six and, after a positive season in the West Midlands, are one of several sides vying for promotion.
Derby have already faced Mark Robins’ side twice away from home this season; a 1-1 draw in the Championship back in October and a 1-0 loss in the Third Round of the Emirates FA Cup in January.
Rooney is aware of the threats posed by the Sky Blues, although owing to recent COVID-19 cases in their playing squad and coaching staff there is an element of the unknown for the Rams.
“The only thing we are unsure about with Coventry is that they have had a few COVID-19 cases and a couple of injuries, so you don’t really know their starting line-up or whether their manager will be there or not,” he said.
“We will have to focus on us, focus on how we want to play and we know the system they will play.
“We will focus on how we want to break them down and get control of the game. We want to be on the front foot, take the game to them and try to get all three points.
“We will keep playing our way and play how we want to play. However, in the moments in games where they feel under pressure, we have to make sure we are ready to adjust that and go a bit more direct for a period of time, see that through and try to find our feet to get back into the game.”