Striker Jerry Yates preached the importance of togetherness in the squad as Derby County look ahead to their Sky Bet Championship clash at Middlesbrough on Saturday (3pm kick-off).
The 28-year-old frontman has made 31 appearances for Derby this season, scoring seven times, and has featured in both of new Head Coach John Eustace’s games at the helm from the off.
The Rams are looking to turn around their fortunes and pick up points in the Championship as they head to Teesside to take on Michael Carrick's side.
Yates spoke to RamsTV ahead of the weekend’s action.
On the adjustments to the squad under new Head Coach John Eustace…
He likes his group to be fully together; there's a good camaraderie around the place. We always come out to training, all of us, at exactly the same time and stuff like that. There have been quite a few adjustments really; he likes to do everything together.
We went for a meal last week as a team, and he's bringing the group a lot closer. The intensity in training has rocketed and everyone's pushing each other every day.
On picking back up and being ready for the fight after the Millwall game…
Personally, I was a bit frustrated and a bit down. The gaffer and the new coaching staff picked us all up on Monday and Tuesday. We've got to concentrate on the next match, there's no point worrying about Millwall at home now. We've got to move on to the next one and there's points to be taken away from these teams. I'm sure we can go and do it in the next few fixtures.
On needing to build momentum...
I've always said it's like London buses, so once one goes in they'll all come. We've just got to keep working hard, keep repeating our every day with the coaches and keep getting in the right areas. I really do think it will come over the next couple of games.
