3/1 To Win
Gary Rowett has stressed the importance of Derby County backing up their derby day victory over Nottingham Forest.
Derby were 2-0 winners over their bitter rivals on Sunday thanks to goals form Matej Vydra and David Nugent.
The home victory saw the Rams extend their unbeaten run to four games after going into the recent international break off the back of three successive draws.
Derby have, however, only been able to record back-to-back wins just once so far this season in the Sky Bet Championship.
Rowett has, however, laid down the gauntlet to his players to rise to the challenge and pick up another three points when Sheffield Wednesday head to Pride Park Stadium on Saturday (3pm kick-off).
If they can rack up successive league wins against the Owls, Rowett hopes it will be a big step towards adding more consistency to his side’s results.
He told RamsTV: “We’ve got to go and produce something similar against Sheffield Wednesday now.
“It’s something we haven’t done enough, in terms of backing results up.
“When the big games are here and the big games we need to win, or it feels like we need to win with the pressure on, we’ve stepped up brilliantly.
“We’re four games unbeaten now and we could quite easily have won the three before Forest, so we’re not a million miles away.”
He added: “We just need to gain that consistent edge but I am pleased we are building in the right direction, especially as we haven’t started the season as well as we would have liked.”
Rowett has stated recently that the fact his side have a game in hand, against Ipswich Town after the match in September was postponed by the EFL in order to play the Carabao Cup Second Round tie at Barnsley, his side are forever playing catch-up.
However, as the table stands, if Derby were to win their game in hand they would be on the cusp of the top six.
Although he began the process of reshaping his squad during the summer, Rowett still feels it is important the Rams continue to challenge at the top end of the table.
He said: “In this division I think you need to learn not to get too down about situations.
“I know the nature of football now is that if you’re 17th or 18th it’s panic stations and you’re under pressure.
“That’s where we were before Forest with two games in hand; we’ve won one of them now and the other is in November against Ipswich.
“We know we are rebuilding in a way that might take a bit of time, but we’re trying to do it in a way where we still win games of football and challenge.
“It’s difficult to do but we will keep working hard and moving forward.”
