3/1 To Win
Gary Rowett says Derby County will be taking on a ‘resurgent’ Birmingham City at St Andrew’s this weekend.
Derby will make the short journey across the Midlands this afternoon (3pm kick-off) to resume their Sky Bet Championship campaign following a 12-day break from league action.
Birmingham occupy a place in the Championship’s bottom three, but they have begun to claw their way towards safety in recent games.
Two league wins on the spin, on top of an Emirates FA Cup victory over Burton Albion last weekend, has provided some momentum in the sails of Steve Cotterill’s side.
Rowett believes the clash with the Blues will prove to be another tough test for his side as they aim to extend their unbeaten run away from home in the league into double figures.
“The Birmingham game this weekend is going to be a tough test,” he told RamsTV.
“They have won their last three games and they’re in a resurgent run of form, so we’re going to have to be at our very best to get anything again.
“We’ll need to perform as well as we have done in the last nine away games in which we’re unbeaten.”
Rowett, who was Birmingham’s manager between October 2014 and December 2016, added: “I know there will be talk about me going back to Birmingham but I think we’ve covered that before and that I’ve been respectful about them.”
With 20 games to go, the Rams sit second in the Championship table.
The Derby boss says, as clichéd as it sounds, he wants his side to keep their focus on one game at a time as they seek to maintain their impressive form.
He said: “All our focus is on the league now; the cups are a nice distraction but the league is our main priority.
“We want to maintain the form we’re in and we have 20 games to be play now.
“Every game is different and a separate challenge. I know it’s very clichéd but the next game has all our focus and it’s as simple as that.”
