"We Want To Go There And Make A Statement"

Striker David Nugent believes Derby County head into tomorrow’s Carabao Cup third round tie against Manchester United full of confidence following an impressive performance against Brentford at the weekend.

Nugent put the Rams ahead in Saturday’s 3-1 victory as he lobbed the ball over goalkeeper Daniel Bentley’s head from the edge of the box to give his side the advantage.

The performance was widely praised by the Derby players, backroom staff and media and the striker believes the Rams should take that confidence into the game at Old Trafford tomorrow night.

“It’s a big stage for some of the players and we want to go there and make a statement and show we are not just turning up to get beat,” Nugent said. “We are turning up to put on a performance and keep this run going. We want to get a few more wins under the belt and keep this momentum going.

“It’s a good time to go there and it will be a good experience for the lads as well. We went there last season under Gary Rowett and they scored two late goals to win the game but we were in the game for large parts and hopefully this time we can go there with confidence. We have a different style of playing this season and hopefully we can cause them a lot of problems.”

The game will be the first time Frank Lampard has come up against one of his former managers.

“It’s a massive game for him,” the striker commented. “He’s going to Old Trafford for the first time as a manager, against one of his former managers so I’m sure he will want to impress him and win the game; he won’t want to go over there and get turned over.

“We don’t know what the team will be, he might make some changes to keep the lads fresh for the weekend but whoever plays, I’m sure they will relish it and hopefully put on a good performance to try and get a result as well.”

The striker made no secret that the league is the biggest priority, with promotion the aim, but he does welcome cup games which can be used to continue the momentum built up.

“I started off the season, got injured, come back against Millwall, scored the goal and I’ve been in ever since,” he said.

“The gaffer knows what I give to the team and he likes it so it’s up to the players to keep playing as we are, getting results and hopefully setting me up to get more goals and get us promoted into the Premier League. We’ve got the fan base, the stadium, the training ground and we just need the team to be consistent in performances and get up the league.”