3/1 To Win
Gary Rowett hopes that the floodgates will open for Chris Martin after he scored his first Derby County goal for well over a year against Reading at Pride Park Stadium before the international break.
Before his late consolation against the Royals, the striker’s last goal in a Derby shirt came against Hull City in April 2016, with last season spent on loan at Saturday’s opponents Fulham.
Rowett believes that if his side create chances for the Scotland international, he won’t struggle to put them away.
He told RamsTV: “When you look at the amount of time that it’s taken Chris to get that goal for Derby, you would hope that we can provide a player like him with more chances and better chances.
“We know that if we can give him those opportunities, with the composure that he’s got, he will score, we know that.
“Sometimes when you break that barrier down, then you often find that other goals will come.”
Rowett has rotated his frontline so far this season, but the pairing of David Nugent and Matej Vydra has proved the most fruitful, limiting opportunities for Martin and Sam Winnall to play from the start.
The boss admits that it is difficult to leave out the pair, but he expressed the importance of the full squad that he has available to him.
He said: “Nugent and Vydra have been in brilliant form, and when those two have played together we’ve produced our best performances.
“They’ve provided some bright attacking play and they’ve scored a big proportion of our goals.
“That doesn’t mean that someone else isn’t as important, but it’s very difficult to shift those two at this point in time.”
