Central defender Matt Clarke is aiming to build on the impressive home form built up this season as Derby County face Huddersfield Town at Pride Park Stadium on Saturday afternoon (3pm kick off).
The Rams boast the second-best home record in the division as they have picked up 32 points from their 16 games on home turf this season.
That includes nine victories and five draws as they sit just one point behind Preston North End, who are top of the home form guide.
Phillip Cocu’s side have won their last five consecutive home fixtures in all competitions and really made Pride Park a fortress over the campaign.
Huddersfield are the visitors this weekend and on-loan Brighton & Hove Albion defender Clarke believes the Rams need capitalise on that home advantage against the Terriers.
“It’s something that we want to maintain and feed off,” Clarke told RamsTV. “If we can keep that run going and make it a fortress then that’s what we need to do.
“They didn’t have a positive result on Wednesday. They lost 3-0 so they will be looking to bounce back and it should be a good game.
“If we stick to our game plan and do the things we do well, and get the details right, then we think we can come out on top.
“You can only take it game by game and if you keep on picking
up three points then you never know where it can take you but we can’t look too
far ahead and can only concentrate on the game Saturday.”
Derby come into the game after picking three points from their last two long distance away fixtures against Swansea City and Bristol City.
A late Tom Lawrence goal secured the Rams a 3-2 victory against the Swans, however, Derby did fall to defeat against the Robins at Ashton Gate on Wednesday night, despite a spirited comeback.
They fell 3-0 behind early in the second half, however, they almost came away with a point after goals from Martyn Waghorn and Chris Martin reduced the arrears.
“Even though it was a defeat, the pleasing thing was the character that we showed and if we had five more minutes, maybe we could have pushed on and got the equaliser,” Clarke said.
“It’s nice to show the character but we can’t get ourselves in that position. It was frustrating because for large periods of the game we played well and looked like the team that was going to go on to win the game.
“We spoke about it this morning and you can’t concede the amount of goals that we are and expect to win football matches.
“It’s little moments and details that are vitally important in football so it’s something we have to put right moving forward.
“You can’t get too low and feel sorry for yourselves because you’ve got to go again in the matter of days. We have to learn from it, put it behind us and move on to Saturday and hopefully get a positive result.”
