‘We Must Use The Ball Better’

Gary Rowett has made it clear that Derby County must be better in possession if they are to leave Sky Bet Championship leaders Cardiff City with a positive result.

Derby will make the journey to the Welsh capital to take on the Bluebirds on Saturday (30th September, 3pm kick-off).

Neil Warnock’s side are flying high in the division after making an explosive start to the campaign, winning seven of their first ten games.

Rowett felt his side were too wasteful in possession as they claimed a 1-1 draw at Brentford in midweek, with a late goal denying Derby their second away win of the campaign in the league.

As well as needing to keep the ball in order to be an attacking threat, the 43-year-old believes Derby must retain the ball well to avoid falling under heavy pressure.

Being better in possession is a message that Rowett and defender Craig Forsyth hammered home following the draw at Brentford – and the Derby boss has reemphasised that point ahead of this weekend.

He told RamsTV: “We have to use the ball better.

“Against a team like we’re going to face on Saturday you have to be able to pass the ball.

“Firstly, you need to create things yourself, and secondly, to quell that pressure that you will come under.

“We know what we need to do, we probably have a clearer picture of how to play the opposition than in a couple of the other games and it will just come down to if we can execute that properly.”

He added: “We want this away win - it’s been since Bolton - we want to try and put a more complete performance together and we’re working really hard to try and do that.”

Rowett knows Derby are in for a tough test against the Bluebirds.

Since taking over at Cardiff just under a year ago, Warnock has revived their fortunes.

After a poor start to last season they occupied a place in the division’s bottom three but, inside 12 months, they are now battling it out at the top end of the table.

“They have the most entries into the final third and you know the ball is coming into the box,” he said.

“We know that they are going to play forward really quickly and can be quite direct in the way they play, because Neil Warnock’s teams are always like that.

“What you also know is that you’re going to have to be physically ready because if you’re not, they’ll put you under pressure.”