Paul Warne wants his Derby County side to continue to perform ‘at a tempo that other teams struggle to play against’ - but he knows they’re in for a tough test when they head to Leyton Orient in Sky Bet League One on Saturday (3pm kick-off).
Last season’s convincing League Two champions have settled into life in the third tier reasonably well and find themselves in mid-table as the season edges towards the halfway stage, with three of their five league wins this term coming on home territory.
Derby, meanwhile, will make the trip to the capital in their best run of form of the season in the league after racking up four wins on the spin to force their way into the division’s top six and Warne wants his side to maintain their momentum with the Christmas period closing in.
The Head Coach sat down with RamsTV on Thursday morning to reflect on the side’s recent fortunes, discuss the form of his strikers, assess the latest injury news and also preview what he expects to be a competitive clash against Richie Wellens side at Brisbane Road.
On being nominated for the League One Manager of the Month Award…
It is a nice reminder of the progress we are making, possibly. We won the accolade in January last season and it didn’t turn out so great after that! It is always about the team and the players, always. If the players perform, everyone looks good. If the players don’t perform, everyone doesn’t look so good. It is recognition for the players more than anything. I am surprised Nathaniel Mendez-Laing wasn’t nominated for the Player of the Month award; you would do well to be ahead of his performances in the last month.
On the Bristol Street Motors Trophy win over Fleetwood Town on Tuesday…
I loved it and I really enjoyed the performance. We keep banging on about trying to play forward when it is on, be aggressive, get after teams, the energy of the team and press well - and we did all that. The running statistics were really good and I understand it isn’t easy to play for us because we do ask a lot of the lads; I don’t like slow and pedestrian like football. I like us to get after teams and if we are vulnerable at the back from that, I accept it. I felt we were enjoyable to watch on Tuesday and there were some impressive displays within it as we produced the necessities required to win a game. I know Fleetwood had one or two chances, but we were playing a ‘proper’ League One team.
On James Collins’ excellent goalscoring form…
He has been excellent; he looks after himself and is always doing extra work. With every striker at every club, there is a pressure to score goals. The strikers are probably the ones that can bring the most to the team because their job is to put the ball in the back of the net. I regard my strikers as contributors to goals as well as being goalscorers; they must be more than that. Collo’s out of possession work is right up there. He tracks back to the halfway line, and he is also brave on set-pieces. He does everything he can possibly do for the team and to see him get the goals for his efforts is pleasing because you want your strikers to walk onto the pitch and feel invincible. I want all our players to feel that way, not just Collo, and scoring goals certainly helps towards that.
On managing Tyreece John-Jules carefully after returning from injury…
We are being very careful with him. When we signed him, we felt he was something we were missing. We lost David McGoldrick in the summer and he is that type of player in terms of being able to do something that others can’t. All our strikers have different attributes and I think JJ is cool as a cucumber in the box and his finishing is good. We have to manage his training minutes and also how long he plays at the moment. I hope everyone can see why we wanted to bring him to the club and he gets himself in excellent goalscoring positions. The lads love him and he’s a popular member of the dressing room.
On the injury situation in the squad…
We are a bit thin on the ground at the moment, but it is a case of ‘next man up’ at the moment and that is fine. Injuries happen in football and we don’t sign players not to play. I can only pick eleven players on Saturday, but it is disappointing to have a few out. That said, we have an excellent medical team and it is important not to be too disheartened because I think it is prevalent across football and in sport in general this year that there are a lot of injuries. Liam Thompson and Callum Elder will be back in training next week, which is a boost. When we get some of the lads back, they will be fighting fit and in terms of our performances on the pitch right now we are looking in good fettle and they’ll add to that.
On what to expect from Leyton Orient…
I know their manager, Richie Wellens, quite well. I played with him at Oldham Athletic during my career. I have seen his teams play over the years and I went to watch Leyton Orient with Richie Barker last Sunday in the FA Cup at Chesterfield. I know that Leyton Orient at home are a different team compared to being away. We will take a great away following down there and if they are at their best, we will have to be right on it. As always, games come down to the smallest margins so we will need to be very good and diligent in everything that we do. One-on-ones battles are crucial so we will need to get the ball to the top end of the pitch and into their box. We need to keep playing at a tempo that other teams struggle to play against. If we do that, we will win a lot of games and it is important we perform to a high level down at Orient. The lads feel good about themselves and I am sure it will be really competitive game because they will certainly ask a lot of questions of us.