I think it is fair to say now that Derby County are in the midst of their most challenging period of the Championship season so far.
Being without a win in four is something that this side have not experienced since the opening month of the campaign, so looking back over these past four games, now seems as good a time as any to assess the position that Derby find themselves in.
First and foremost, we have to remember that this club have a good Head Coach at the helm in Paul Clement as well as experienced players supporting him.
This is a new situation that Paul finds himself in and the players’ know-how is going to be invaluable in the coming games.
Notoriously during these periods in football, this is when Managers and Head Coaches alike get judged the most, but I have been impressed with the way that Paul has conducted himself during what has been a difficult time.
He is very vastly experienced and during his career as an Assistant Manager, this challenge is something that he would have encountered before.
It’s these sorts of tests where you really find out and learn a lot about yourself and your players, but with the backing that he has got from Mel Morris, the Club’s Chairman, and Chief Executive Sam Rush, I am have very little doubt that he has can turn the situation around – just as he did in September after a period of finding his feet.
This, though, is a completely different scenario and it’s important to note that Derby are not the only side to go through this sort of run.
A run such is this is one that happens to many of the leading sides in the Championship and it’s also one that I have been embroiled in myself on a number of occasions throughout my career.
So how do you get out of it? There are a few things that you have to do, a lot of which are easier to do when you are on the training pitch rather than in a pressure situation like a matchday.
The first thing Derby have to do is get back to doing what worked so well for them between the months of September and December – a factor that is determined a lot by confidence, which leads me on to my next point.
This group of players have not become a bad side overnight and when you have 46 league games to go through, you are going to suffer defeats and draws.
When I was with Norwich City and we went up at the end of the 2003/04 season, we got beat along the way.
We also had a couple of difficult spells during that campaign – one where we won one game in five whilst we had a couple where we couldn’t get a win in three – and the most important thing is to not dwell on the result.
The biggest thing for us that year was that we never lost back-to-back games and as of yet, Derby have also achieved that.
Now they need to do anything and everything at Burnley to make sure they come away from Turf Moor with a positive result.
You have to enjoy the good times, but when the bad times come along, you have to ride them out and the next stage of that ride comes in Lancashire in front of the Sky Sports cameras.
As long as you have a great work ethic across the squad, you have every chance; especially with the quality Derby have got within their ranks, of getting back to winning ways.
Confidence is a huge thing in football, individually it is an even bigger aspect and the players only need to reflect on the run that they have been on recently to know that they are more than capable of replicating that.
The last two games have been difficult and they haven’t resulted in a points total that many would have been hoping for from back-to-back home games.
Let’s take stock, though. There are still 19 games to go, 57 points still to play for and there is no need for the alarm bells to start ringing.
I have said this before in previous columns: are Derby going to get defeated along the way? Yes they probably are. Will Paul and his side draw games? Most likely.
That’s not something that just applies to Derby, though, this applies to every single side in the Championship and we have already seen how quickly the table can change within a couple of weeks.
In my opinion, there is no better place right now for Derby to go and end their run than by playing an in-form Burnley side in their own backyard.
Perhaps there are a few reasons for you to disagree with that statement. It’s well documented that the club’s recent record against Burnley has not been great, Sean Dyche’s side have won their last three games, they are scoring goals for fun and they come through their sticky patch and recovered well.
These are all things that could work in Derby’s favour. For once, the pressure will be off Paul and his side and a result in front of the live television will go a long way to getting the players back on track.
As well as working in the hospitality department during a matchday, Marc Edworthy now operates as the Power of Sport Leader at 3AAA, Derby County’s Official Training Wear Sponsor & Club Partner.
