Phillip Cocu believes Derby County are heading into this weekend’s Sky Bet Championship clash at Norwich City in a positive frame of mind.
Derby will make the long journey to Carrow Road determined to address a run of three successive league defeats to start the Sky Bet Championship campaign.
Last weekend’s 4-0 reverse at home to Blackburn Rovers saw the Rams three goals behind inside 15 minutes and Cocu was less than impressed with his side’s performance.
However, a positive team meeting at the beginning of this week was arranged for players and staff to discuss the way forward for Derby.
Cocu felt it was important to have a group meeting and, speaking to RamsTV, he explained: “Normally on a Monday we look back at clips from the weekend’s game, including the positive moments when we play good football and some elements we need to improve on, too.
“On Monday of this week, we didn’t look at all the clips. I think it was important to talk just about how we approach games, how we present ourselves and who we are on the pitch.
“We had a long meeting, over an hour, but it was positive to get more feedback from the players.
“They also spoke to each other because in the process of becoming a team, a part of it happens on the pitch and in training and during the games, but also a lot has to happen off the pitch.
“You have to put the effort in, the new players have to be open to getting information and learning the values and they need to feel like they want to be part of the club and the team.
“It was a very positive meeting in the end and that is what it is all about; to be a stronger team, to be better, to improve each other and to know what we should add to our game and to the team to get positive results.”
Cocu has been pleased with what he has seen from Derby’s players on the training ground this week.
He has stressed that the Rams must look ahead now rather than focus their attention on events they can no longer have an impact on.
Derby have been a side challenging at the top end of the Championship table for several years and Cocu says the Rams’ ambitions remain the same despite a slow start to the season.
“The players look fit and enjoying themselves with high demands and standards that we always like to see on the training pitch,” he said.
“We do not need to look back. We need to look forward being a team now we know we have to be more solid. We have a quality team and we still have our goals for the end of the season, but we still have some work to do.
“That is a part we discussed and worked on in training and will be important. We know we can play good football, but we also need to step up in the defensive part in not conceding so many goals.”
He added: “Our ambitions don’t change, if we set a goal at the start of the season then it stays and we don’t lower the bar.
“We are in more of a positive mindset towards the next game. We need results and we play to win games, but also continue the process of developing the team. We are not changing the goals we set at the beginning of the season and that is clear.”
Norwich were relegated back to the Championship at the end of the 2019/20 season after a one-year stay in the Premier League and, like Derby, have aspirations of challenging for a top-six berth this time around.
The 2018/19 Championship title-winners have started the new campaign steadily, picking up four points from their opening three matches.
Cocu is aware his side face a tough test at Carrow Road in front of the Sky Sports cameras but has made it clear that they should show belief in their qualities.
Cocu said: “Norwich are a big team with quality players, but we all know in the Championship that anything is possible.
“We have to believe in ourselves. We have respect for our opponent, we know they have the qualities within their team, but we also believe in what we can do we are tough to beat.
“We will have that mentality when we travel to the game, to be tough to beat and try to explore our qualities within the team and fight until the last second to get a good result.”