Paul Warne says his Derby County side are looking forward to kicking off a busy fixture schedule with a game under the floodlights at Pride Park Stadium when they face Swansea City on Wednesday night (8pm kick-off).
The Rams sit mid-table in the Sky Bet Championship and are hoping to rack up more points as they look forward to two home games in a week, with the visit of Sheffield Wednesday to come on Sunday 1st December (3pm kick-off).
Derby enter the busy fixture period unbeaten in three matches, after earning a 2-1 away win over Coventry City and a 1-1 draw against Plymouth Argyle before the recent international break - and taking another point on the road against Preston North End on Saturday.
Warne sat down with RamsTVafter training on Tuesday to discuss handling a crammed match schedule and the excitement of being under the lights at Pride Park.
On how the group is shaping up ahead of back-to-back home games…
The lads look alright; we’ve had virtually everyone out
there training. We must try and pick a team to try and beat Swansea now. I know
how good they are because, for example, we think the world of Jerry Yates and
they allowed us to take him on loan for the season. It shows the strength of
their squad and we’ll have to be at our very best in this match. I saw their
game at home to Leeds United on Sunday and it was one full of excitement,
losing 4-3 in the last minute. It should be another good game.
On Jerry Yates’ recent form and creating an opportunity as he will miss the Swansea game…
We know Jerry really well and have history with him. His
attitude towards football has always been amazing. I remember, looking back,
that Jerry’s grandad had a big impact on him growing up; behind a lot of sports
people there is an encouraging but hard person to make them train even harder.
We have always liked him as a player and the work ethic he has was driven into
him by his grandad. Even in games when he hasn’t had as much of the ball and
we’ve not created a lot, he has led the line really well and gives everything.
He does a lot of the ugly stuff so well. It is a disappointment not to have him
for this game, but it is an opportunity for someone else.
On trying to get some momentum and rhythm in a busy fixture schedule…
We were talking after the game at Preston as a group of staff and we don’t have a Saturday at 3pm fixture now until January. In the Championship there are a lot of games and at different times, which means a lack of rhythm. It is important to get your head down and focus on the next one. We’ve got a lot of players back fit, or just about it, now and that is a positive going into this period.