3/1 To Win
With three home games looming over the next two weeks, Curtis Davies says the challenge is now for Derby County to make them count and back up their midweek point at Millwall.
The Rams were forced to settle for a goalless draw at The Den on Tuesday evening – their second in successive matches after they were also held by Bristol City earlier in the month.
It had appeared Ikechi Anya had scored a late winner for Gary Rowett’s side in the Capital, but his effort, with six minutes remaining, was chalked off after he was deemed to have strayed offside.
Davies felt the ruling was harsh and told RamsTV: “It’s frustrating. That seems to be the way things are going for us at the moment.
“Unfortunately, Kech, who hasn’t really been involved this season, came on, worked really hard and looked to have scored what was a legitimate goal, but unfortunately it has been ruled out.
“That happens, and you have to get on with it. We had a good chance in the first half too, but it was cleared off the line – with a bit more quality in the final third, I think we would have won the game quite comfortably.
“On the flip side, it was a game that we could have lost on another day. The longer the game went on, the scrappier it got.
“There was a lot of balls thrown into the box and Scotty (Carson) had to make a couple of good saves.
“We come away with the mindset that it is a positive point, but we would have liked all three.”
The draw keeps Derby second in the Sky Bet Championship table, but after Robert Snodgrass scored a last-gasp winner against Sheffield United, Aston Villa moved to within a point of Rowett’s men.
Davies reiterated once again that whilst it easy to get into the automatic promotion positions, the challenge is staying there.
With things heating up at the top of the second tier, the defender has spoken of the importance of ensuring the Rams make the most of their three home games – against Brentford, Norwich City and Leeds United - that come over the next two-and-a-half weeks.
“We’ve got ourselves in this position – we’re second in the league – and, with respect to Millwall, we have got to come to places like this and win,” he said.
“As much as I am saying that it is a good point and that we remain unbeaten, we came here for all three points. With that, we’re slightly disappointed. We’ve got three homes games now.
“We have to make it count. Whoever comes to us, we must get the three points because the rest of the pack are starting to catch up.
“It’s down to us to pull away from them and, hopefully, start catching Wolves. The easy part is getting there, it’s stopping there that is the challenge.
“To do that you need to get wins and if we can back this up at Brentford, that keeps the sequence we aim for ticking along.”
