"We Have A Lot Of Hard Work To Do"

Derby County’s play-off fate is in their own hands and manager Frank Lampard knows that.

The task for the Rams is simple on paper but, due to the nature of the Sky Bet Championship, harder to execute.

Two points separate Lampard’s side from Bristol City, who sit in the final play-off position, and a win in each of their final five fixtures of the season will see them overtake the Robins.

“We are in a good position and we are pleased to be competing for the play-offs,” he told RamsTV.

“Most teams are fighting for something at the minute and even if teams are comfortable, like we saw against Blackburn when we lost 2-0 last week, if they perform, we know how hard this league is, but we know the importance of getting maximum points.

“There is a focus about us as a group and it’s important that we maintain that and know that there are two big games coming.

“We know what we need to do, and we are in the fight for the play-offs but we have a lot of hard work to do. We are looking forward to it and it’s important we see it as a challenge in a good way.

“It’s five games with on opportunity to make the play-offs and make it a really successful year and I’m looking forward to it.”

There is still a lot of work to do for the Rams, starting with tomorrow’s game against Birmingham City (3pm kick-off).

Lampard is still expecting a surprise or two between now and the end of the campaign.

“There is going to be twists and turns, whether it’s our results or results around us, we can’t call them,” he said. “It’s in our hands which is great, let’s be positive about it, but we must go game-by-game.

“It’s such a big weekend for us coming up. It’s two big games in the space of a few days and there are points on offer for us so we need to give it our everything.”