First Team Coach Matt Hamshaw has urged Derby County to play ‘with positivity and be on the front foot’ after a morale-boosting 1-1 draw at Norwich City on Saturday to tee up Tuesday night’s home clash with Oxford United.
Hamshaw took the reins alongside Jake Buxton, Bradley Johnson and Andy Warrington as the Rams earned a hard-fought point against at Carrow Road, following the Rams parting ways with Head Coach Paul Warne ahead of the game.
The draw saw Derby add a point to their Sky Bet Championship tally after an undesirable losing run of form throughout January. The result is hoped to be a turning point that can push the team forward when Oxford United come to Pride Park Stadium on Tuesday night (7:45pm kick-off).
Hamshaw spoke to RamsTV ahead of Tuesday’s Sky Bet Championship clash on home turf.
On the feelings in camp after a well-earned draw against Norwich...
We are really proud of the group. I thought they were excellent. We'd done a lot of work last week on how we wanted to play and I think you saw some of that in the in-possession bits.
We’re obviously disappointed that Lars' goal got ruled out early on because the way we played through the thirds, the passes we played, the finish and the quality was very good. That’s all come from the things that we know these players are capable of doing and that's the biggest thing for me. The confidence that they showed, the work that we'd done and the ability and confidence to get on the ball in a tough environment against a good team, and look like a proper Championship team, was pleasing.
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On the approach to Tuesday night’s game against Oxford…
We need to play with positivity on be on the front foot. It's a massive, massive game, but we have always known the enormity of this week. The lads are in a good place. We've got three very close games where we may make changes. The fact that we've got everybody back up, ready and raring to go allows us to do that with more conviction than we have done in recent weeks. It’s a good opportunity at home again. I feel the performances have been good at home this year. We just haven't had the results and I'm excited and looking forward to getting out there at Pride Park tomorrow. Hopefully, we can play as well as we did at Norwich and be a little bit more front-footed.
On a quick turnaround time to the Oxford game…
I wouldn't say it changes things massively, just tinkering with different things. In-game changes or substitutions, the timing of things and having a clear dialogue with the staff around how and when we do things.
I want the lads to have fire in their bellies when they play, but I think it's important for us to remain fully focused on what's going on and identify changes. At times, being an ex-player myself, when you're in the midst of it you don't see what is going off. If we can be a bit of a calm and reassuring voice on the side, I think it helps.
On changing tack in a different role on the touchline…
I have a couple of sides to my character, and I think I try and pull them out when it's needed. I've talked a lot about the players having a bit of freedom, but it has to be constructed freedom, and that's what I've been reinforcing to players. They know what the jobs are and they've got freedom within that to go and play.
