After a 0-0 draw against Blackburn Rovers on Saturday afternoon, Justin Walker believes that his side built on the positives from their last fixture against Swansea City.
Despite only taking a point away from Brockhall Training Ground, the Rams created many of the game’s best opportunities to break the deadlock, including hitting the crossbar in the second half.
And in a tight, tactical battle, Walker believes that there are lot of positives to take going into their next fixture against Middlesbrough on Saturday 30th September.
Speaking to dcfc.co.uk after the game, Walker said: “I think we built on the positives that we saw last week.
“The players deserve a lot of credit. It was a really pleasing performance and, out of possession, that’s probably as well as we’ve played.
“We’ve had a couple of moments to test their 'keeper but didn’t do enough from the brilliant positions we got ourselves into.
“On another day, we could have quite easily won that game four or five nil.”
At present, Walker’s and Rory Delap’s side remain in third position in the Premier League - North table and no team in the division have conceded less goals than their four at this stage.
The draw at Blackburn keeps them in a strong position and Walker was quick to praise the group of players for their start to the campaign.
He said: “The season so far has been really pleasing and there’s a lot of progress within the group.
“You look at someone like Jayden Mitchell-Lawson, who I thought was outstanding and by far the best player on the pitch. Both in terms of creativity and what he did with the ball.
“We’ve only had one lapse which was the Manchester United game, but they’re a great bunch to work with.”
Derby will be looking to return to winning ways when they face Middlesbrough at home in the league next Saturday and Walker says his players don’t need to change much for their fortunes to turn around.
He added: “It’s a continuation of what we’ve been doing.
“They’ve shown a lot of self-belief and confidence. I know the lads are disappointed to have played so well and to have only taken a point, but we’ll move into next week in good spirits and keep doing what we’ve been doing since the start of the season.”
Words by Marc Walker
Images by Harry Marshall
