Derby County First Team Coach Matt Hamshaw says the squad have taken confidence from their 3-0 away win at Burton Albion on Saturday.
The Rams face a quick return to action when they take on Oxford United at Pride Park Stadium on Tuesday evening (7:45pm kick-off) and will be looking to build on their first victory of the 2023/24 campaign against the Brewers.
Speaking to RamsTV ahead of the contest, Hamshaw spoke about staying level-headed, gaining confidence from the win at Burton and also provided a squad fitness update.
On the first three games in all competitions...
It's been a bit of a rollercoaster as most new seasons are. I think it's always difficult with the cohesion and togetherness as you're still finding out things when the real pressure cooker comes. I thought as ugly as Saturday's game was from a spectacle point of view, we had the bit of quality and that's what we need to start showing more of.
On needing to stay level headed...
You didn't see any of the staff running around with their tops off in Derby City Centre because we won on Saturday just like you wouldn't have seen us down in the dumps because we lost on Tuesday against Blackpool in the Carabao Cup.
We aren't going to win every game between now and the end of the season and if we do then you might see me with my top off in Derby City Centre!
It's football, we're going to lose games. For me, football is the only sport really where you can be the better team and lose.
On the most pleasing thing about the Burton win...
We were pleased with scoring three goals and getting the three points. It's always nice to get your first three points. We thought our performance was good against Wigan the previois weekend, but we just didn't take our chances. We probably weren't as good on Saturday and won 3-0.
There will be different challenges throughout the season, there are a lot of variables and we've just got to keep level-headed. The support was great on Saturday from three sides of the ground, which I've never really seen at an away game!
On James Collins and Conor Washington getting off the mark...
You want everybody flying. We need goals in the team and they are paid to score goals. Collo had a good pre-season so it was nice for him to get his goal and give him a bit of confidence. Conor got his goal and Waggy got in on the act with an assist so that's good.
We're always looking to add and any players that come up that make us better we are showing a firm interest in them. So far we haven't found that striker and that's probably a credit to the ones we have in the building.
On Tom Barkhuizen and Louie Sibley's fitness...
Sibs is back in training which is good and Tom should be towards the end of this week. They'll be a little behind it fitness wise so we'll need to get them some minutes and work them hard in training to get them up to speed. Hopefully they'll be back in the squad in two games' time.
On Oxford United...
They've had a good summer, they've done some good recruitment and have a good management staff, we know them well. They play good football and want to attack and get on the front foot so it will be another tough game but it's one we're really looking forward to. The lads have taken confidence from Saturday and we need to make sure we start winning at home because that will be key.