3/1 To Win
Will Hughes believes Derby County’s victory over Norwich City last weekend showed that the Rams are maturing as a side.
Derby’s 1-0 win over the Canaries was secured thanks to a second half strike from Bradley Johnson, to earn a fourth successive Sky Bet Championship win for Steve McClaren’s troops.Hughes, 21, believes the way Derby performed and saw out proceedings demonstrated the progress they’ve made in recent weeks.
The Rams had an unfortunate habit of conceding late goals earlier in the campaign, but have been far more solid during their rise up the table under McClaren.
Speaking ahead of Saturday’s trip to Wigan Athletic (3pm kick-off), Hughes believes the Rams will go into the game off the back of a ‘big result’ against the Canaries.
He told dcfc.co.uk: “Norwich have one of the strongest squads in the Championship so to beat them was a big result for us.
“I thought the gaffer summed it up perfectly afterwards saying it was two very good teams going at it.
“The longer the game went on it looked like it was going to be a one-goal game and, fortunately, it swung in our favour.
“I think we’ve matured in the sense that we saw the game out. Previously, we might have conceded a late goal and only got a point.
“A draw against Norwich City wouldn’t have been the end of the world, but to get the win showed that we have matured as a side and can win big games like that - and not concede against a potent attacking threat.”
Hughes says Derby need to keep their foot on the gas after winning five and drawing one of McClaren’s first seven games back in charge.
In the month and a half since McClaren’s second coming, Hughes feels the Rams have been on their game and, importantly, avoided complacency.
He said: “Some people think that there are easy games, but there’s not a chance of that being the case.
“You need to be on your game every single week to have a chance of winning and that’s one of thing I think we’ve improved on. There’s been no complacency lately.
“You need to have your foot on the gas and I think we showed that against Rotherham last month; everyone expected us to win but to put it into practice is another story.”
Supporters can read more from Will Hughes about life under Steve McClaren, Derby’s current form and much more in the Nottingham Forest edition of ‘The Ram’ on Sunday 11th December, priced at just £3.
