John Eustace pointed to his Derby County side’s ‘professionalism and confidence’ with ten games remaining in a hotly contested Sky Bet Championship.
Following back-to-back home victories over Blackburn Rovers and Sheffield Wednesday, the Rams head to South-East London to face Millwall, who currently occupy third-place, sitting just four points behind Middlesbrough in the second automatic promotion spot.
The Head Coach caught up with RamsTV as his team looks to clinch their third consecutive Pride Park win, after previous victories over Swansea City and last weekend against Blackburn Rovers.
On the current state of the first-team squad
We need as many fit players as we can through the season. It’s evident we’ve got a few players out injured, but the players who have come in and who are performing are doing well. We have a ‘no-excuse’ culture at the football club. Whoever plays will be ready.
On the professionalism of the players against Sheffield Wednesday
If you look at Sheffield Wednesday’s team, their starting XI, there are still some really good players there.
They were playing with freedom; they’ve got nothing to lose. If they do lose games, they’re losing by the odd goal, so it was always going to be a very difficult game, and I was delighted to get the three points.
On the end-of-season run-in
I think we’re in really good shape. The team is very confident, we’re very much together, we’ve been through a lot of highs and lows throughout the season, and the way that we’ve gone about our business throughout the 30-odd games up to now has been really good.
We’ve got 10 games to go, we’re in a really good position, so let’s just see where it takes us.
On the club’s position overall
I think we’re ahead of schedule for sure, but that first ten games, when we didn’t really have the squad together, and we were still trying to find our way, it’s taken us ten games to get that understanding. We’re probably a little bit ahead of schedule, but let’s enjoy the last ten games as much as we can.
On the challenge of Millwall
They’re an excellent team. I think in the last three or four years, they’ve always finished in the top 10, very close to the play-offs.
That team’s been together for three or four years, so they’ve added a bit of quality to it. They’ve got a fantastic manager there as well, so that’s a team that’s been growing over the years. They’re a good team, and we’re really looking forward to the challenge ahead.
