3/1 To Win
Phillip Cocu believes his Derby County side have been displaying promising signs of progress in recent weeks.
After an inconsistent start to the season, both in terms of results and performances, Derby have enjoyed an upturn in form since the closing stages of December.
Derby have won five and drawn two of their last seven matches in all competitions on home turf, have steadily climbed the Sky Bet Championship table and also progressed to the Fifth Round of the Emirates FA Cup.
In addition, the Rams’ performances have also cranked up a notch over the last two months and Cocu believes his side are edging close to ‘the real idea of how we like to play’.
Derby produced one of their best performances of the campaign as they claimed a 1-1 draw against automatic promotion chasers Fulham at Pride Park Stadium on Friday night, although they should have claimed all three points after creating several good opportunities.
With just over two months of the 2019/20 campaign remaining, Cocu says he’s happy with the development of his entire squad and is encouraged for what the future holds.
Speaking to RamsTV after the Fulham game, Cocu said: “Not only tonight, but in the last couple of games that we have played both home and away, we have shown progress.
“I think we also proved that we are getting closer to the real idea of how we like to play.
“We still have to improve some parts of the game, that’s obvious, but with the young guys coming in the team and Wayne Rooney settling into his position, I see definite improvement in how we like to play.”
He added: “We have to see if it is possible in this season and the games coming up to reach the play-offs.
“That will be really tough, we know that, but we are also building and working for the season that is coming up also shortly. I am happy with the development of the entire squad.”
Following Friday’s 1-1 draw against Fulham, Derby face back-to-back away fixtures at Queens Park Rangers and Sheffield Wednesday over the next week to round off a busy February on the pitch.
