Stephen Pearson admits he is surprised that Derby County's recent results haven't pulled them further away from the bottom three in the Championship.

The Rams have enjoyed a strong start to 2010, which has included victories over two of the promotion chasers in the Championship; Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United.

Going into tonight's away fixture at Reading, Pearson told Rams Player he expected the Rams to have more distance between themselves and the relegation zone after those victories.

"We've had some fantastic results of late, especially against the so-called bigger teams," Pearson told Rams Player.

"I'm surprised we haven't pulled further away from the bottom three to be honest.

"Those results have proved to be vital because the teams in and around us have won games.

"2010 has been pretty successful for us to be honest, the performances have been good and the side is more stable with a settled side.

"That has given us a platform to build on."

Pearson expects a very tough encounter at Reading this evening, a side who have risen to the challenge of pulling off scalps in the FA Cup this term by dumping Liverpool, Burnley and West Bromwich Albion out of the competition.

"I watched Reading on the TV on Sunday against Aston Villa (lost 4-2) and for long spells Reading played very well against a Premier League side," said the Scot.

"We know it will be a very tough down there, but we're playing well and confident we can get a result.

"They've had some big scalps in the FA Cup lately which has given them some momentum, so we know what to expect."

Derby kicked off a hectic run of games during March with a 2-0 win over Watford on Saturday, and Pearson insists there will be no complaints of tired legs from the Rams squad.

"We know there will be a few tired legs, but we're paid to play football and it's what we love doing," he said.

"There won't be any complaints from us for the amount of games we have coming up."

Watch an exclusive interview with Stephen on Rams Player right now.