3/1 To Win
Rest is the best course of action for central defender Curtis Davies - but he says he will be ready and prepared following the international break as Derby County travel to The Valley to take on Charlton Athletic.
The 34-year-old returned to the starting XI in the 3-2 win over Birmingham City at Pride Park Stadium, their first home victory of the season at home, towards the end of September.
Four days later, Davies played 90 minutes in the 2-2 draw against Barnsley before playing the full game in last Saturday’s 2-0 victory over his former side Luton Town at Pide Park.
It’s the first time the defender, who had only featured in cup fixtures prior to his inclusion against Birmingham, had played three games in a row since May 2018 after recovering a long-term injury.
“When you have come out of the cold, so to speak, then it takes a little bit of time to defrost,” he told RamsTV.
“I’ve defrosted now but I need a rest so I’m going to enjoy a couple of days off over the international break and be ready to go again.
“It’s a block of games that we want to go in to and try and get as many points as possible.
“You want to go into that next international break again with a winning mentality before the Christmas run comes and it all comes thick and fast.”
Last season, the experienced defender suffered an achillies injury which would cut his campaign short, however, he is keen to make a positive impact this time around.
And after the international break, the Rams will be looking to build on their five-game unbeaten run and climb the Sky Bet Championship table.
“We had won one game all season before these last three fixtures,” he commented. “We should have won all three in the last week but two wins and a draw is brilliant and starts to breed a winning mentality.
“Even against Luton on Saturday, simply because we have the experience of winning, and bringing dominant in the Barnsley game, we had that mentality that once we were ahead we were determined to win the game and we need that to return.
“If we can get back to earning clean sheets and creating chances for our strikers to put away, then we will start winning more games before the end of the season.”
