3/1 To Win
Phillip Cocu has admitted he is ‘really pleased’ with Derby County’s progress during the second half of the 2019/20 season - which has seen them rise from mid-table to being play-off contenders.
Derby’s form in the second half of the Sky Bet Championship campaign has seen a healthy combination of consistent results and performances come together to fire them up the table.
The first-half of the campaign was, Cocu has admitted on several occasions, inconsistent and the Rams reached the halfway point of the season in 17th spot on 26 points.
Fast forward to Wednesday’s 1-0 win over Preston North End at Deepdale, Derby’s 40th league game of the season, and the Dutchman’s side are seventh on 60 points.
They are, with six games remaining, only a point adrift of the top six and Cocu believes his side have come a long way in a short space of time.
Skipper Wayne Rooney’s arrival has, clearly, played a part on the pitch while the emergence of Academy youngsters Max Bird, Louie Sibley and Jason Knight onto the first-team scene has provided plenty of encouragement.
“I am really pleased with the development of individual players and also the squad, how we play and combine it now with results,” Cocu told RamsTV.
“It is more consistent, and the confidence is high. There are six big games still to come and we are still not in the play-off spots - where we want to be - and we must make sure that after the last game we are in there
“It is possible now so that is a real positive for us.”
He added: “The atmosphere is great for us because we have come quite a long way to get here, so now we need to make sure we keep fighting and keep playing and getting results we need.”
Derby are back in action on Saturday against East Midlands rivals Nottingham Forest at Pride Park Stadium (12:30pm kick-off).
Five of the Rams’ final six matches are against sides above them in the table and Cocu says every game between now and the end of the campaign is ‘huge’ for his side.
He said: “It is a huge game, but every game we have to play now is huge and we still cannot make any mistakes.
“We still have to chase and make sure we get the results ourselves, so we don’t have to look at the results or scores of the opponents.”
