3/1 To Win
Tom Huddlestone said Derby County need to show up and be counted as they look to build on an impressive victory over Sheffield United to round off a tough week of fixtures.
After knocking the Blades off the top spot on the weekend, the Rams will look to keep the momentum going when they face third-placed West Bromwich Albion on Wednesday night and the new Sky Bet Championship leaders Middlesbrough on Saturday.
However, these tough weeks are what the midfielder says he plays for and sees it as an opportunity to pick up some important points.
“It’s a tough run of fixtures and on paper they all play a similar system [as Sheffield United] with three at the back,” the 31-year-old explained to RamsTV.
“As we have seen with United, it was their right centre-back who got the tap-in in the six-yard box. I think in open play West Brom and Middlesbrough, their back three won’t be as adventurous as Sheffield, but they will be tricky games.
“These are the games where we have to show up and be counted, that’s what these games are all about in this division. Hopefully we can go to both places, put on good performances and get results.”
A solid team performance like the weekend, when Huddlestone made his season debut at Pride Park Stadium, would be welcomed. He drew plaudits from Frank Lampard following the match, who said he was “fantastic” in the way he moved the ball from side to side to create chances.
It has been a stop-start beginning of the campaign for the academy product who dealt with a slight injury and had to wait to make his first appearance that came against his former side Hull City in the Carabao Cup, but Huddlestone hopes he has grabbed his opportunity to cement his name in the starting XI.
“It’s been a while coming and I didn’t know I would be playing until the manager named the team on Saturday morning,” he said.
“It was a pleasant surprise and hopefully I have taken my chance and can stay in the team for longer now.
“It was a case of keeping myself as fit as possible in training and hopefully when I got my chance, to do well and the team win. I feel I did ok, especially in the second-half.”
On Wednesday, West Brom will be without Huddlestone’s former Tottenham and Hull teammate, Jake Livermore who will serve a one-match ban for a red card he received on the weekend.
The midfielder has been instrumental for the Baggies since Darren Moore took over at The Hawthornes at the end of last season and although he will be missed, Huddlestone is under no illusion that there is enough strength in the former Premier League side to fill the void.
Moore, who helped the Rams to promotion 11 years ago, has guided Albion to a strong start to life back in the Championship this season with seven wins from 13 games.
“Jake has been brilliant for the past three or four years of his career, he has been excellent. He has a wealth of experience and has had an unbelievable career so far. I think he will be a big miss, but they will be able to fill the void I’m sure.”
Speaking about Moore, Huddlestone added: “I think you could see last year when he got the job at West Brom, everybody had virtually written them off and they nearly had another great escape and I think that was down to the positivity he seems to bring.
“He is an infectious character and obviously riding on that wave at the minute. Hopefully we can put a stop to that on Wednesday.”
