Stephen Warnock has challenged his Derby County team mates to quieten the ‘intimidating’ Fratton Park atmosphere when they face Portsmouth in the First Round of the Capital One Cup this evening.
Stephen Warnock has challenged his Derby County team mates to quieten the ‘intimidating’ Fratton Park atmosphere when they face Portsmouth in the First Round of the Capital One Cup this evening.
The Rams will make the long trip down south to face Paul Cook’s side in front of the Sky Sports cameras, kick-off: 7:45pm.
Derby will go into the encounter on the back of their hard fought 0-0 draw with Bolton Wanderers – their Sky Bet Championship curtain-raiser – last Saturday.
Paul Clement’s side suffered two early setbacks in the game as they lost first Craig Bryson then Will Hughes to injury, but reflecting on the fixture, Warnock has praised the way the squad ‘dug in’ to ensure they came away from the Macron Stadium with a positive result.
He told Rams Player HD: “Looking back on the way things were with the two injuries that we picked up, we reacted well and really dug in very well towards the end of the game when things got tough.
“It’s a positive result for us and was nice to get a clean sheet as well so early on.
“The injuries are not something that you plan for and it’s certainly not something that you want. The lads that came in did a great job for us and it shows the strength in depth that we have got in our squad.
“The games come thick and fast through the first couple of months and we have had to quickly change our mind-set to the game at Portsmouth.
“We knew that the start of the season was going to be tough. It’s going to be a test of our fitness and a test to see how far we have come through pre-season. That’s something that we are all looking forward to.”
Like Derby are in the second tier, Portsmouth, under Cook, are tipped as the favourites for promotion from Sky Bet League 2 this season.
They began their campaign with a 3-0 win over Dagenham & Redbridge – a game that drew a crowd of just under 17,000.
Warnock insists that Derby need to be prepared for the daunting atmosphere that comes with Fratton Park and let their football be the overriding factor.
He added: “They’ve got a new manager in Paul Cook who is trying to galvanise the club and take them up.
“They were backed by 17,000 so they have are still getting supported heavily by their fans. They deserve a lot of credit for how they have stuck with their football club.
“Portsmouth is still a massive club, but, rightly or wrongly, they are where they are. They are still a strong squad and you know when you go there that the crowd are going to be on top of you and it’s going to be a great atmosphere.
“It is, though, a place where players enjoy going to play because you know that the atmosphere is going to be fantastic.
“It’s an intimidating atmosphere, but that’s what you want to play in front of and we need to go there and quieten them down.”
