Keogh Hoping To Get One Over Former Side This Weekend

There will be an intense rivalry in the Keogh household this weekend as the Derby County defender prepares to take on his former club Bristol City at Ashton Gate.

And what an encounter it is set to be as both clubs challenge for a place in the Sky Bet Championship play-off places as the battle for the Premier League intensifies.

Richard Keogh spent his early years in the professional game with Bristol City, the team who handed him his debut back 14 years ago.

He went on to make 53 appearances for the club and scored five goals in a three-year spell between 2005 and 2008 for the Robins.

Whilst the centre-back prepares to face his former club this weekend, it’s rivalries off the pitch that will be tested.

“My wife is from Bristol and a lot of her family are City fans, but I think I have managed to persuade them to support us for this weekend,” he told RamsTV.

“It is a nice little bonus for myself, but we have just got to go down there and be confident and we have got to attack the game and come back with the right result which will help us achieve our goal.

“I’ve had some great times there. It’s where is got my career going, they gave me my professional debut and I experienced some great things – winning promotion and Young Player of the Year there.

“I am very thankful to that club, they gave me a good opportunity to get my career started but when you go back there it is all about business and we are looking to try and get one over on them.”

And the defender knows a win on Saturday will put the Rams in a commanding position in the hunt for sixth spot.

“Saturday is a big game,” Keogh admitted. “Two teams going for the same thing and it’s funny how things work themselves out. We know it is a big game, all three games are massive.

“After the run we have been on, we are going to go down their full of confidence and hopefully come back with a positive result.

“We have tried to win every game and even though the season is getting tighter and closer towards the end, our mentality has not got to change.

“You see that last game at Pride Park, we wanted to go for the win. It took a while in the end, but the manager is making attacking changes because we are not happy settling for a point, we want to win every game.

“Saturday is no different. You are not going to be gung-ho in a game like that, but we have got to try and win that game.”