Cocu: “The Team Feels Good”

Phillip Cocu feels his Derby County side are in a good place ahead of a busy week of Sky Bet Championship action.

Derby have returned to action following the three-month break in the campaign, due to the COVID-19 outbreak, with back-to-back victories against Millwall and Reading behind-closed-doors.

Combined with the successes against Sheffield Wednesday and Blackburn Rovers before the unexpected break in the season, Derby have won each of their last four league outings.

The big games keep coming for Cocu’s side, who sit three points adrift of the division’s top six with only seven matches left to play as the race to finish line gathers pace.

They head to Preston North End on Wednesday (5pm kick-off) before taking on East Midlands neighbours Nottingham Forest at Pride Park Stadium on Saturday (12:30pm kick-off).

Derby are level on points with Preston, who sit in seventh place, while Forest occupy a play-off berth at this stage.

Cocu says his Rams side are looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead.

“We knew the first two games (after the break in the season) were crucial for us to get good results and put ourselves in a good position to have a serious go at the play-offs,” Cocu told RamsTV.

“We know it will be difficult. We have some tough games coming up so definitely not easy, but the confidence will grow further with four wins in a row.”

He added: “The team feels good and we are looking forward to the next game at Preston.”