Curtis Davies believes Derby County have proved that they have the ability to win games in different ways.
Derby occupy a top-six spot in the Sky Bet Championship ahead of their final game of 2017 at Ipswich Town this afternoon (3pm kick-off).
Gary Rowett’s side have won 10 of their last 17 matches and tasted defeat on just two occasions.
They have risen from a mid-table position to force their way into the promotion race and boast the second-best defensive record in the division.
The Rams have shown that they can pick up points with impressive footballing performances, as well as displaying the ability to roll their sleeves up when required and grind out victories.
Davies, who has been an ever-present at the heart of defence this season alongside skipper Richard Keogh, insists it’s vital that Derby continue to maintain their high standards.
The Rams boast an experienced squad, particularly at Championship level, and the summer signing from Hull City believes the know-how within the group has played an instrumental role in the season so far.
The 32-year-old told dcfc.co.uk: “We have to keep doing what we’re doing; nothing needs to change.
“I think we are better doing things the way that we are and having the ability to find different ways to win games.
“We can play good football and are more than capable of doing it but if you can only win that way, you need to be bang at it in every single game. We have won games by doing that while we have also shown the ability to win with other different qualities too.
“Especially when the games come thick and fast it’s about getting through the next job, getting over the line and moving on to the next game. Whatever we need to do, I believe we have the experience and quality here to do whatever is required of us to get results.”
He added: “You never take anything for granted in this league and when you are playing a top team you have to believe you can get something from the game. When you’re playing a team lower down the table, you have to remember they will have that same belief as well.”
Davies, who gained promotion to the Premier League with Hull City two seasons ago, feels Derby’s sound defensive record demonstrates their quality as a team when out of possession.
He believes the Rams have shown themselves to be a patient side, as well as one that has the ability to cause their opponents problems - particularly on the counter-attack with the pace of the likes of forwards Matej Vydra, Andreas Wemann and Tom Lawrence.
Davies used the recent home victory against Villa as a prime example during this interview.
Derby had less possession on the day but had more attempts on goal and ran out 2-0 winners; as a result of being compact from a defensive point of view and effective when they got on the ball.
He explained: “It’s almost ticking boxes by doing what is required of you against a certain team to get the result.
“When we played against Queens Park Rangers, Burton Albion and Millwall for example, we knew that we were likely to have more of the ball so the onus was therefore on us to go and break them down.
“When we came up against Aston Villa and Hull City recently, we were aware that they are teams that want to keep the ball and therefore we would have to surrender position for a little while at times.
“That means when you get the ball, you have to do something very good with it. The Villa game is a good example of that, they had around 67% possession but just one shot on target. We had eight and won 2-0.”
Davies, once again, feels Derby’s experience has come to the fore and he added: “I think it has helped us because we’ve tried to stay more compact as a team and not go pressing when we don’t need to.
“It can be easy to become frustrated when you don’t have the ball but we’ve done well in that regard and then when you do get possession, it’s about trying to spring an attack on the opposition which we have shown we can do quite well.
“We are in a good place and we know it’s important to keep our feet on the ground, work hard and keep doing what we’ve been doing over the last few months.”
