Captain Richard Keogh has called on the side to put a line under Tuesday's pulsating defeat to Scunthorpe United at the First Round stage of the Capital One Cup, and look ahead to Saturday’s npower Championship opener against Sheffield Wednesday at Pride Park.
The 26-year-old marked his Derby County debut with the opening goal of the game, before the floodgates opened at both ends as the sides battled out an incredible 5-5 draw at Pride Park Stadium - with the Rams eventually going out on penalties.
Speaking after the game Keogh admitted that although the side were shell-shocked to lose the game, now was the time to put the disappointment of the defeat behind them, with the opening fixture of the League campaign fast approaching.
He told Rams Player: “It was a crazy night; we were so in control of the game, we should have been out of sight in the first-half, it could of been 5-0 before the interval.
“In the second-half we took our foot off the pedal a little bit and let them in the game, but even then we missed some great opportunities and we should have had the match wrapped up.
“We have got to look forward to Saturday now, the 120 minutes probably didn’t help things but we are a fit group and we are all excited for the start of our League campaign."
The former Coventry City skipper admitted the side’s 7-6 penalty defeat was a real wake-up for members of the first-team squad, and insisted lessons must be learnt ahead of the weekend’s opener against The Owls.
He added: “It has definitely been a bit of a wake-up call, especially with Saturday just around the corner.
“We need to play like we did in the first-half, play on the front foot; we have got a lot of pace and energy in our team.
“On a positive note, we scored five goals and we could have had even more, so in attack we are looking sharp, but we have just got to cut out that naivety, keep our shape and work a bit harder off the ball.”
Watch the full interview with Richard Keogh exclusively on Rams Player.