When the lights shut out at the King Power Stadium on Monday night, Derby County Under-23s will know their fate of next season as their finale against Leicester City caps off a “heroic” season.
Darren Wassall has commended his team for their outstanding attitude throughout the season, but the Rams have one last hurdle to jump and it will be their biggest yet.
Derby face the Foxees on Monday night (kick-off: 7pm) and a draw looks all but enough to cement their stay in the Premier League 2 Division 1 for another season.
They are in a battle with Sunderland to avoid the second relegation spot after Manchester United fell first victims. Both teams are coming off crucial wins and their destiny all boils down to the last game.
Derby put in a stellar performance against West Ham United last Monday and the 1-0 win propelled them two points ahead of the Black Cats who temporarily went ahead after their 4-1 victory over Leicester the day before.
Reflecting on his team’s win, Wassall told RamsTV: “We knew going into the game Monday that we had to win to keep our season alive in terms of staying up.
“It was a big challenge for the players because West Ham are on a great run of form. That’s even more credit to the players performing under pressure. So all in all a really good afternoon and our destiny is still in our own hands.”
With the win taking some of the pressure off, there has been good spirits around the camp this week. But Wassall explained that’s nothing new.
“We have a good feeling every week because we know we are giving it our all," said Wassall.
“Overall I think there is a very good feeling in the camp because the players are very honest and they go out every game to do their very best.”
Leicester saw their hopes of winning the title
slip away on Friday when an Arsenal victory pulled the Gunners too far out of reach, but
Wassall and his team understand the Foxes won't be backing down from their last fight.
“The players are in great spirits after the West Ham game, it was a great victory and sets us up nicely for Monday night. We are under no illusions, it’s a really tough ask.
“Leicester have had a fantastic season, we always have a tough game against them. But we go into every game believing that we can win it and believing we are going to be competitive.”
For the second-straight season Derby are competing to remain in the top division filled with the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea where money and recruiting poses very little restriction.
The Rams' season has seen them putting up tremendous fights against those giants and Wassall insists that's what Derby County are all about as he reflects on this campaign.
He added: “The fact that we’ve been able to compete and still are competing to staying this league until the final game of the season means there have been a lot of good games.
“Going to Goodison Park and beating Everton 3-1 just a few weeks ago was a really great performance.
“It typifies everything we are about as a club and as an academy in terms of earning the right to play and making sure everyone is on the front foot and willing to work for each other. Then creating a few moments of magic.
“It shows how far we have come as an academy over the last nine years because we play against the top teams in the country week in week, out and we performed heroically on most occasions.”
