Head Coach John Eustace has admitted Derby County’s upcoming back-to-back home games are an opportunity to fight back after a ‘fantastic’ week on the training ground in the lead-up to the Rams’ clash with Blackburn Rovers on Saturday (3pm kick-off).
Eustace will take charge of his second game at Pride Park Stadium since taking up his position at the club last month when Derby take on Rovers..
After a third full week on the training pitch, Derby will play two home fixtures inside four days in the Sky Bet Championship, first coming up against Eustace’s former side Blackburn on Saturday, before taking on Coventry City at Pride Park on Tuesday 11th March (7:45pm kick-off).
Eustace sat down with RamsTV to preview the weekend’s action on home turf.
On the player’s demeanour in training ahead of the clash with Blackburn and reflections on the 1-0 defeat against Middlesbrough…
They've been fantastic, the attitude this week has been unbelievable. I'm very proud of the efforts the boys have put in for this week, and we can't wait for the game on Saturday. I think the group were very angry about the result [against Middlesbrough]; the manner we conceded the goal, the effort they put in was there for everyone to see. It was a really good effort from the boys. We came back in on Monday and touched on a few things from the match. As I said, the attitude of the group has been excellent this week.
On coming up against his former side…
The most important thing is that it's the next game for us. We don't want to play any differently. It's a huge game and after a really good week on the training field the lads can't wait for it. I had a fantastic relationship with the players and the staff at Blackburn and that was very important to me. I left the club in a really good position and now I've come to a fantastic club in Derby. I want to help build this brilliant club over the next two or three years and get them back to where they should be.
On using the home matches to start a resurgence…
We just have to keep believing in the process. You can see in the last two games we've been very competitive. We certainly haven't deserved to lose against Millwall and Middlesbrough. We've just got to keep doing what we're doing and keep working hard. The attitude on the training pitch has been fantastic. Saturday is the next test and one we're looking forward to.