3/1 To Win
Wayne Rooney has stressed the importance of Derby County improving their form on the road as the latter stages of the 2021/22 Sky Bet Championship season close in.
Four of Derby’s next five league fixtures are away from home and Rooney wants his side to start picking up points on their travels on a more regular basis.
The Rams have registered eight wins, six draws and just three defeats at Pride Park Stadium in the league, picking up an impressive 30 points in the process.
On the road, by contrast, Rooney’s side have registered two wins, six draws and eight losses which has provided a return of 12 points.
Their two away victories came at Hull City in August (1-0) and Stoke City in December (2-1).
Derby will head to Luton Town on Saturday in their latest fixture (3pm kick-off), before making the long journey to Cardiff City on Tuesday night (7:45pm kick-off).
Leading up to the trip to Kenilworth Road to face Nathan Jones’ in-form side, Derby have overcome a hefty 21 points deduction to put themselves within eight points of safety with 13 matches remaining.
There’s still belief in the camp that the gap can be narrowed on those above them quickly and Rooney knows a combination of victories both at home and on the road will be required.
“Obviously it’s another tough game away from home this weekend,” Rooney told RamsTV ahead of the trip to Luton.
“We know the importance of this game; we know what Luton are going to bring and we will be ready for it.
“When you have a lot of games, like we have now, it’s all about your rest and recovery after matches and making sure you’re right for the one coming up.
“We are getting down to the last part of the season, so we have to pick up points away from home.”
He added: “We know it’s going to be a fight and battle and we need to make sure we do everything we can to come away with three points. Going away from home is always tough, we know that. We have to manage the crowd and manage the atmosphere.
“We need to make sure we focus on what we’re doing and outside influences such as the crowd don’t determine what we do.”
Derby will travel south to face the Hatters, who they held to a 2-2 draw on home turf back in October, looking to respond to their first home defeat of 2022 on Wednesday night.
Millwall were 2-1 winners at Pride Park Stadium in the final midweek home fixture of the season and Rooney is looking for a quickfire reaction.
“It wasn’t the result we wanted on Wednesday, but we know what is in front of us,” he said.
“We know what fixtures we have left and if we win the right number of games at the right time against the right opposition, then we have got a good chance. That has to start tomorrow.”
