Rooney: “Stick Together And Work For Each Other”

Wayne Rooney has stressed that Derby County’s home fixture against promotion-chasing Brentford on Tuesday night is another opportunity for his players to step up (7pm kick-off).

Derby will take on a Bees side that currently sit fourth in the Sky Bet Championship table and three points adrift of the automatic promotion spots.

Rooney’s side are 19th in the league table following Saturday’s 1-0 home defeat to Millwall and are looking to address a run of five matches without a victory.

The 35-year-old knows the Rams’ form needs to improve and says the Bees will pose a stern test.

Rooney is aware of the threat of Tuesday’s opponents at Pride Park Stadium, but he is confident Derby can also impose their own qualities on the game.

“Brentford are a good team, so it is going to be a tough game,” Rooney told RamsTV. “We will have to work hard, stick together, work for each other and take our chances.

“It is another good game for us, I feel, but obviously results need to get better and it is a match for us to go and challenge ourselves in.

“Brentford are a good side and have good players and you can see they have a style of play and. if they do it right, it is difficult to cope with.

“We know it is probably going to be a similar game to what we faced in their stadium in December, which will be a lot of work for our players, but we feel there will be chances there for us too.”

Rooney added: “We need to be solid at the back and the concentration and focus needs to be good.

“I feel if we can do that then we will frustrate them, but also on the other side going forward there will gaps there for us to exploit. We have to be brave enough to go and take those chances.”

Derby have, in general, picked up good results against the division’s high-flyers.

Current top-seven occupants Swansea City and AFC Bournemouth have been beaten at Pride Park this season, while Rooney scored his final career goal in a 1-0 victory at leaders Norwich City in October.

In addition, impressive 0-0 draws have also been picked up at Brentford and Barnsley this term.

Rooney is not taking the side’s record for granted and says their concentration needs to be spot on.

“The lads have done well against so-called better teams,” Rooney said. “A big thing is concentration. You must have concentration for 90 minutes and that is a key thing for us.

“We are maybe a better team when we are hitting teams on the break, but in this game it will be a bit different as I think there will be spells where we can get on the ball and go ahead with our play.”

Derby have not scored in their last four games and Rooney feels it isn’t through a lack of effort.

He just feels that the Rams need to work on getting the small details right in the final third.