Craig Short insists the young Derby County squad can deal with the pressure of the last two games that will decide their fate for next season.


The Rams have faced their second season in the Premier League 2’s top division with a team much younger and less experienced than the likes of Manchester City who have the power of spending big money and the luxury of recruiting across the world.

So for Short and the rest of Darren Wassall’s coaching staff the players’ performances have dictated how successful a match has been, rather than the result.

Despite being underdogs in the league, Derby are still in the fight to remain in the top division and are looking to build on their second-half showing against Tottenham last Saturday going into the crucial clash with West Ham.

Short believes the 4-2 scoreline doesn’t reflect the spirit of the team who were challenged with overcoming two early goals.


He told RamsTV: “We were really pleased afterwards. I think that’s one of the most enjoyable games we’ve watched, especially when you consider the age of some of the players.

“We had a bit of a shaky start but they seemed to grow in confidence. I think we have got exceptionally high fitness levels and I think that makes us perform better in the second half but they are a strong side and we knew we were up against it to give two goals away early.

“But I suppose we are fortunate, we keep saying it’s not about the result it’s about the performance and the most pleasing aspect of that day was those young lads coming in having a bad start and being able to recover from being 2-0 down after 12 minutes and really putting on a performance.”

The Rams kick-off against West Ham United at the Training Centre in partnership with University of Derby at 3pm on Monday.

In the reverse fixture Derby travelled to the capital and stunned the Hammers with a 5-1 victory under the lights of the London Stadium. A brace from Offrande Zanzala added to goals from Luke Thomas, Charles Vernam and Jayden Bogle to secure the win.

“It was a nice place to do it. But we had to sit very deep and defend for long periods of time, especially in the second-half they had a very good striker who Joe Bateman had a good battle with,” Short added.

“Then we got all our goals on the break and I think a lot of our chances and goals we score are transition on the break. We had Offrande’s pace that day and he caused them a few problems.

“But West Ham will be a bit of a different proposition on Monday, I’m sure, after what they did to Everton. So our lads are up for the challenge.”

West Ham are coming off an exhilarating 4-0 win over last season’s league champions, Everton, but the Rams will look to put a quick stop to that momentum by picking up three points to aid their aspirations to stay in the division.

“We desperately want to retain our place. They can [deal with the pressure], they have done over these two years.

“The lads are talking about it [staying up] more now. Our run up to Christmas we were thinking ‘we’ve had a great start, hopefully we don’t take that for granted and maybe we are going to stay up’, but we are going to have to fight for it now.”