Manager Frank Lampard has challenged his players to maintain the standards set over recent games as attention turns back to Sky Bet Championship action this weekend.
Last night came the most impressive performance of the season as his side arguably outplayed the Red Devils in their own back yard and progressed through to the fourth round of the Carabao Cup.
That followed strong performances against Blackburn Rovers and Brentford in the league which see Derby sit two points behind leaders Leeds United.
Recent performances have drawn praise from the media but the manager is keen for his players to maintain the standards set and not let their guard down.
“The next test is consistency and Bolton at the weekend,” he said. “We have to do that regularly because we have a bigger picture and that it to try and get us up to the Premier League.
“When you set a standard like that, it doesn’t make sense to drop it. We dropped it at Rotherham and you lose games. The Championship is completely different to this. We will enjoy it, rest but focus must remain the same. Our standards must stay as high as they can.
“We have found out in football that if you lack the intensity or the urgency, as we did at Millwall, as we did at Rotherham, then you will lose games. Our test now is consistency.
“My job is to get them up again and going but I haven’t got a problem with that because they are such good lads in the dressing room. They want them to do well for individual reasons and for collective reasons as well. I will try pushing that and then we will see how we go week in, week out.”
