Rams' Captain says players are 'relishing' this weekend's encounter with Bolton Wanderers
- Derby County are unbeaten in seven games in all competitions
- Bolton have only kept one clean sheet in the league ahead of the game
- Keogh believes Derby are getting back to their best after impressive week
Richard Keogh insists Derby County are ‘relishing’ their trip to Bolton Wanderers this weekend insists the squad are only going to continue getting better.
Derby go into Saturday’s contest at the Macron Stadium unbeaten in seven games in all competitions after securing their place in the Fourth Round of the Capital One Cup on Tuesday night.
Dougie Freedman’s side, however, have made a slow start to the campaign and only have one league victory – a 3-2 win over Rotherham United – recorded this season.
The Trotters exited the Capital One Cup on Wednesday night, but pushed Chelsea all the way at Stamford Bridge as they narrowly lost 2-1 to the Barclays Premier League leaders.
Keogh, the Derby Captain, is anticipating a tough game this weekend, but says that he and his team mates are close to replicating their form from last season ahead of the contest.
Speaking to Rams Player, Keogh said: “Teams that have gone down and have not bounced straight back up and then they find themselves in a tough league full of good teams.
“Bolton have found that, they are probably in a bit of a transition period, but Dougie has got his team how he wants it.
“It’s going to be a tough game and a tough place to go. They have a big squad still, a lot of big players, but it’s one we are relishing.
“We are looking forward to the challenge and I like where we are at the moment, as a squad and as a team, I like where we are at and things are only going to get better.
“We have started the season pretty well, we probably should have had a few more points on the board, we have probably drawn too many games, but we have shown we are a good team and have a good squad.
“We’re looking for the game Saturday, we know it’s going to be a tough game, but we just want to keep this run going.
“We’re unbeaten in a few games now and we’re getting close to where we were last year, so it’s important for us to keep our heads down, concentrate on the game and try and pick up as many points as we can.”
Derby have shown flashes of last season’s form in the past week and a half in their 3-2 victory over Blackburn Rovers, their fight back against Cardiff City and the midweek cup victory.
Keogh believes Derby ‘courage’ to stick to the playing style Steve McClaren has implemented is paying dividends and is calling on the squad to stick to the script when they face Bolton tomorrow.
He added: “We’re a team that likes to dominate the ball in most games. Teams don’t want us to do that because it is one of our strengths, but it shows the courage of the group that we keep trying to play.
“It showed against Cardiff where we were 2-0 down, but we still played football.
“We still tried to play the way the manager wants us to. We didn’t try anything different, we didn’t go off script and we got our rewards in the end.
“We did that against Reading as well, we created a lot of chances. We work hard in training for the games and it definitely helps us when we get ourselves out on the pitch.”
