3/1 To Win
Phillip Cocu says Derby County’s home encounter with Middlesbrough this weekend is a ‘very important’ game for his side.
Derby welcome Jonathan Woodgate’s outfit to Pride Park Stadium on Saturday 2nd November (3pm kick-off) in their final Pride Park Stadium fixture before the November international break.
Cocu’s team head into the game having won their last three matches on home turf and the Derby boss has challenged the Rams to make it four on the spin.
They are, however, searching for some consistency having tasted a 2-0 loss at Hull City last time out despite producing one of their best away performances of the campaign to date.
Surprisingly, albeit still in the early stages of the season, Middlesbrough find themselves in the Sky Bet Championship’s bottom three.
Cocu is well aware of their qualities as a team and he has made it clear his side are in for a tough encounter.
“The next game is always the most important one; it is a very important match on Saturday,” Cocu told RamsTV.
“We have to make sure that in the home games we continue with our wins, especially after our defeat at Hull City last weekend.
“You have to not only step up and perform when things come your way and you feel good, then it is easier and maybe you can enjoy it even more, but also you have to step up in difficult times.
“Our home form is something we really need to keep going and we will give everything on Saturday to get another win against a difficult opponent.”
He added: “We have to perform better than the last home game, even though we beat Wigan.
“We played better against Hull, despite not getting the result we deserved, and we have to continue performing this way. If we can combine it with a win that would be great, especially on Saturday.”
Cocu says his side should go into their latest match with confidence and belief following their recent run of form at home.
Derby are unbeaten in their last five at Pride Park, picking up 11 points from a possible 15 on offer.
With a trip across the East Midlands to rivals Nottingham Forest on the horizon next Saturday, Cocu wants to go into the local derby off the back of another positive result on home territory.
He said: “If you play a home game you have to look forward to all the fans backing you up and a great pitch to play on. We have had good results before in the home games so we can have all the confidence.
“We want to get the win and have another option to get a result in the next away game because the next one is a really important match as well at Nottingham Forest.”
Cocu turned 49 earlier this week and is hoping for a late present from his side at the weekend.
He added: “Hopefully if I can get a late present from the team, that would be great on Saturday.”
