3/1 To Win
Assistant Head Coach Richie Barker says Derby County can take positives from the weekend’s 3-2 home defeat against Norwich City when they head to Sunderland in the Sky Bet Championship on Tuesday night (7:45pm kick-off).
The Rams travel to the Stadium of Light looking to get back to winning ways after suffering their first defeat at Pride Park Stadium this season against the Canaries on Saturday, which ended a ten-winning unbeaten run on home turf.
Derby had picked up maximum points from all three of their previous home games in the league, with impressive showings against Middlesbrough, Bristol City and Cardiff City - but they have yet to get a point on the road, having played three sides in the top seven of the Championship table and been unlucky to lose by a single goal at both Watford and Sheffield United. With the Black Cats sitting in second, another tough test awaits at the Stadium of Light.
Winger Corey Blackett-Taylor netted his first goal for the Rams in the defeat against Norwich after injury kept him on the sidelines for the opening stages of the season while defender Craig Forsyth also got his first of the season, displaying the character of the squad.
Barker spoke to RamsTV ahead of the Rams’ away fixture to discuss the importance of fans sticking with the team until the very end, a confidence boost for Blackett-Taylor and facing off against the best teams in the Championship away from home.
On Saturday’s defeat against Norwich…
We don't enjoy defeats, but we enjoy the way the players play. We spoke to them after the game about all the positives that we felt came out of it.
The result wasn't positive, but I think the fact that the stadium was predominantly full at the end and the fans stuck with us suggested that it was entertaining, they were pretty pleased with what they saw and that we did the right things.
The lads were excellent - the word unlucky sometimes gets used when someone misses a chance, or a goalkeeper makes a mistake, but there's an element of ability in it. What unlucky is, for me, is when something's out of your hands and I would suggest that that's what Saturday was.
On Corey Blackett-Taylor’s first goal for the club…
It has been a stop-start time for him since arriving in January. He came in and played a part for a little bit, but then picked up a couple of injuries and picked up another injury in the summer.
The squad's pretty strong at the minute and he has had to bide his time to get back on the bench. He did pretty well in a couple of behind-closed-doors games where he's gradually built up his minutes and looked sharp in training three or four weeks ago. It shows the depth and quality we have in the squad. When he got the chance, he took his goal well and it will certainly give him a boost. Now it's up to him to build on that.
On the value of Jerry Yates’ contributions in a Rams shirt…
Jerry's greater than the sum of his parts; in the game against Bristol City a couple of weeks ago he was excellent. Probably a couple of elements let him down at the weekend against Norwich, but he plays a big part in what we do. He's a very, very unselfish striker who we've known him a long time. If you told him now that we would have a successful season and he wouldn’t score a goal, he would take that because that's the kind of person he is and that's the kind of team ethic we want.
His first goal will be a very popular one when it comes because he's a popular member of the team and somebody the lads recognise. It's not about him, it's not about his goal records. I always think it's great when we have different goalscorers because you become harder to play against.
On Tuesday night’s clash with the Black Cats…
Sunderland started a process three or four years ago - I remember coming against them in League One when they'd just had a change of ownership. They'd been stuck in League One for a few years and decided they were going to go down a different route. The Academy was very similar to ours and they're now gaining some success from those Academy graduates and buying younger players to develop them. They're a young, energetic, athletic team and are very well organised in terms of the way they play.
Sunderland are an example of the process you have to go through when you’ve been promoted from League One. You have to ensure that in your first couple of years, you're going in the right direction before you push on further. I'm sure they'll be there or thereabouts come the end of the season.
It is another tough game for us. Regarding our away form, I've been told that we have played against teams from the top seven away from home in our first four away games. That's as tough as you get for a start. We want to go and win, but we're well aware of how difficult it's going to be.
