‘Some Elements Were Really Pleasing’

Gary Rowett felt Derby County opened their pre-season games programme at Kidderminster Harriers on Tuesday in a positive manner – but knows there’s plenty of room for improvement.

Derby ran out 4-0 winners at Aggborough Stadium against the National League – North outfit in their first friendly ahead of the 2017/18 Sky Bet Championship campaign.

In wet and boggy conditions, which were a far cry from the beating heat of their training camp in Tenerife, Rowett fielded a different XI for each half to spread the match minutes across the squad.

David Nugent, Craig Bryson and Chris Martin all scored in the first 45, while Darren Bent rounded off the scoring in the second period.

Offering his immediate reaction to the match, Rowett was left pleased with a number of aspects.

He told RamsTV: “I think some elements of the game were really pleasing.

“Of course, in the first half, we took most of those chances whereas in the second half we were a bit sloppy at times.

“I think it’s harder to go second in terms of which half you play because you’re standing around for another 45 minutes.

“I felt as though there were lots of good things. We’ve asked them to do certain things so there’s going to be problems within that, but we're pretty pleased with the majority of it.”

He added: “I am happy with the fitness of the players, their sharpness and some elements; we limited Kidderminster to very few chances and the concentration levels were good. I thought some of the performances of the younger players were really encouraging too.”

Rowett, naturally, saw areas where his side can get better over the coming weeks ahead of the big kick-off.

Derby are back in friendly action at National League outfit Macclesfield Town on Saturday and the 43-year-old says his squad will quickly begin their preparation work for the game at Moss Rose.

He added: “The quality on show at times you can see is very good in and around the final third.

“What we have got to become better at is making sure we don’t become too open and have too much space on the pitch. That takes a lot of hard work.

“You could see that the players really tried to press the ball in the right areas and really worked hard to stop the opposition getting into good positions.

“You know you’re going to get some problems with that but I think the majority of what we wanted them to try and do, they did. I think in the first half we were probably a little bit better at it.

“In the second half, we perhaps just struggled a little bit with natural movement. When we did we got into some really good positions and as I said we were a little bit wasteful but, again that’s what’s these games are for. They’re for picking apart, taking the best bits out and looking at the bits you really need to work on for the next game.”

He added: “We’ll be in in the morning at 9:30am, ready to start again. We will train a double session tomorrow and we will prepare for Saturday.”