Craig Forsyth says Derby County’s players are aware there are plenty of big games coming up in the next few weeks.
Derby are three points adrift of the top six with eight games left to play in the 2019/20 Sky Bet Championship season, which resumed at the weekend following a three-month break as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.
A hat-trick from Academy graduate Louie Sibley fired Derby to a 3-2 victory at Millwall on Saturday as they cut the gap between themselves and the top six from five points to three.
In six of their remaining eight games, Derby face sides above them in the table so the upcoming fixtures provide an opportunity to gain ground on their opponents.
Phillip Cocu’s side face Nottingham Forest, Brentford and Leeds United on home turf while they also must travel to Preston North End, West Bromwich Albion and Cardiff City in the coming weeks.
Forsyth, who is one of the longest-serving members of Derby's squad, insists the players are relishing the upcoming games.
The 31-year-old, however, says all the Rams should be thinking about at this stage is Saturday’s home fixture against Reading (1pm kick-off) in order to keep their focus.
“We know we have to play a lot of teams in and around us and we were aware of the situation ahead of Saturday,” Forsyth told RamsTV after the win at Millwall.
“If we want to do something about it, we know we’ll have to beat the teams above us and around us.
“We’re off to a good start and now we have a week to prepare for the next one against Reading at Pride Park on Saturday.
“That’s all we are thinking about right now. We just want to get back up to speed and see where it takes us.”
Reviewing Derby’s victory at Millwall, Forsyth believes the Rams quickly got into their stride by dominating possession and creating several goalscoring opportunities.
The fixture at The Den was the first of nine behind-closed-doors fixtures, with fans not permitted to attend matches under EFL and UK Government guidelines and rules.
Forsyth, who made his 200th appearance for the club in the game, felt Derby were full value for the three points at The Den for their performance.
“It was strange with no atmosphere, but I think we played really well,” Forsyth said.
“We controlled the game really well, especially in the first half, but we fell behind to a quick counterattack. We kept at it and I think we wore them down. They had a go at us at the start of the second half, but we came through that and got back into our rhythm.
“I think getting into our game pretty quickly helped us settle down after not playing for so long.
“We knew Millwall would be strong and direct and that was where we needed to take the sting out the game, which I think we did well, as well as imposing ourselves on the game with our football.”
On playing before an empty stadium in a competitive fixture, Forsyth added: “It was strange and a bit surreal, but that’s where you have to create a tempo yourself.
“It is good to be back; it’s not normality but it’s good to be back playing and three points on the road is the best way to start.”