“You cannot turn off a desire to win games.” That is the view of manager Frank Lampard as he prepares his side to face Premier League side Southampton in the Emirates FA Cup Third Round this weekend.
FA Cup winners medals are not in short supply for Lampard. He has four to his name as a player and now as a manager he and has stressed the importance of a good cup run.
Earlier in the season, the Rams beat Manchester United on penalties in the Carabao Cup, following a 2-2 draw at Old Trafford, and performed admirably against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in a 3-2 defeat.
The Derby boss believes a positive cup experience can benefit the side.
“In my opinion you cannot turn off a desire to win games and you are professional,” Lampard told RamsTV.
“Whether you change the team, and we were fortunate at Chelsea that we had a strong squad and could handle the change in certain games, but in terms of intention and mindset we went into every game to win and that must be the same for us here.
“We showed that attitude in the Carabao Cup and we had a great run in that. Everyone at the club enjoyed it. Manchester United was one of the best games in recent seasons and we have to try and start out on another journey but we know it will be tough.
“It’s after a busy patch of games and we have suffered some injuries so we will see how we go but the players on the pitch will give everything.”
The manager’s first memories of the famous cup competition stem back to when he was a child.
“I grew up with it, my Dad won it at West Ham in 1975 and 1980 so I grew up with a great understanding of how important it is,” he said.
“I love the FA Cup. I was fortunate to be part of it with a great Chelsea squad where we won it a few times so there is a magic to the club and I feel it and so do the players. It’s a big game for us at home against Premier League opposition so, for plenty of reasons, we want to give it our all.”
Despite the Saints sitting in the Premier League relegation places, they have picked up in recent weeks since the arrival of Ralph Hasenhüttl.
He has picked up seven points from a possible 15 so far in the league, including a win against Arsenal but he may choose to rest players for this weekend’s FA Cup tie.
“That’s their manager’s choice,” Lampard said. “Does he change a lot of players to protect that and keep players fresh or does he install a mentality of winning in the way they play and performance that he wants to carry through?
“He will have lots of messages that he wants to give the team, I know that because I’m still pretty new here. He may go either way. He may want to rest players or may want to play players who have been playing regularly.
“Whatever way he does it, this is a Premier League squad that we are coming up against so whoever they put out it will be a very tough game for us.”
In terms of team news, Lampard admitted: “We have important players but I haven’t got a lot of rotation I can do. The squad, even though some people think it’s big here, it’s not so big certainly in particular areas.
“We know left-back has been an area with a few issues for us recently, centre back as well. We may rest a few but the players are performing well anyway so it will be a balance of what I can do, what I think is best for us going forward but I certainly don’t want to put out a team that I feel is not absolutely up for winning the game.
“I think whatever personnel I put out will be strong enough to give Southampton a good game I hope.”
