3/1 To Win
Wayne Rooney believes Derby County need to build on their improved solidity by taking more risks in the final third to turn their recent draws into wins.
Rooney has led Derby’s coaching team for the last five matches while the club wait to appoint a permanent manager following Phillip Cocu’s departure in mid-November.
The 35-year-old has guided the side to one win and four draws while making the key decisions, such as team selection and tactics, to gradually move the Rams in the right direction following a poor start to the campaign.
Derby have also kept three successive clean sheets in the Sky Bet Championship for the first time in almost three years and provided a solid platform for the side to build on moving forward.
The 1-0 win at Millwall earlier this month has since been backed up by successive 0-0 draws away to Brentford and at home to Stoke City.
Next up for Derby is a Wednesday evening fixture against Swansea City at Pride Park Stadium (5:30pm kick-off) and Rooney wants the Rams to up their game in the final third and begin to find the back of the net on a more regular basis.
To do that, Rooney has stressed the need to be more creative and take risks in the final third.
Speaking to RamsTV, Rooney said: “We had to get some stability back in the team and start keeping clean sheets and now the next part is scoring goals and winning games.
“That is my job, and the other coaches too, to try and get the players in the right areas to do that.
“We have had a few chances which we haven’t taken. I have said to all the attacking players that we need to start rewarding our defenders for the clean sheets, win games and get three points.”
Rooney added: “I said when I came into this role, you can’t ask for everything at once and I felt the important thing was we become solid and stop conceding goals.
“Now I think we can start expanding our game a little bit more and try to be a bit more creative and take a few more risks, which I am expecting the players to do.”
Swansea, managed by Steve Cooper, have enjoyed a positive start to the season and occupied third place in the table after Saturday’s round of matches.
The Swans, who gate-crashed the top six on the final day of last season, have taken their positive form into the new campaign.
Rooney is expecting what he has described as an ‘interesting’ game against Cooper’s side.
Rooney said: “Swansea are a good team; they like to move the ball around and they try to make the pitch as big as they can in possession.
“Defensively it will be a challenge, so we have to be ready and disciplined in our defensive work. There will be chances for us to get at Swansea when we have the ball in possession, so I think it will be an interesting game and a bit more tactical.
“We have to make sure we’re the ones who come out on top.”
