3/1 To Win
Wayne Rooney says Derby County’s supporters will have a pivotal part to play when they welcome Peterborough United to Pride Park Stadium on Saturday afternoon (3pm kick-off).
The Sky Bet Championship fixture is set to be played in front of another big crowd, with in excess of 28,000 tickets already snapped up and the number continuing to rise by the hour.
Rooney’s side know a victory would see them leapfrog Darren Ferguson’s side in the table, and move into 22nd place, as the Rams continue to chip away at their points total.
Despite having 21 points deducted from their season’s total for entering administration and historical breaches of profitability and sustainability rules, Derby have clawed their way to within five points of safety as the business end of the season approaches.
A season’s best 32,211 attended the 2-2 draw with Birmingham City last month, which provided an electric atmosphere as Derby stormed back from two goals down to claim a point, and Rooney has called on the club’s fans to make their voices heard throughout the 90 minutes at the weekend.
“This is a big game for us,” Rooney told RamsTV. “We know a win will take us above Peterborough, so it’s a huge match and one where we have had a full week to prepare for it.
“As I keep saying, we take one game at a time and we know Peterborough will bring fight and energy and looking at it from their point of view, they can move six points clear of us with a win themselves.
“We know it’s going to be a difficult game and we will do everything we can to get three points in front of our home fans.
“Our form at Pride Park has been good all season and the next two matches, against Peterborough and Millwall on Wednesday are big for us, with them both being at home.
“If ever we need the fans, it is on Saturday. We need them there right behind the team and vocal for the whole 90 minutes. The support has been great all season but on Saturday we really need them.”
He added: “We know what a lift it gives us when the fans are in full voice and it can be intimidating for the opposition as well. I’m sure the fans will be right behind the team as always, but we need them for 90 minutes.”
Derby have had the luxury of a rare full week on the training ground to prepare for this weekend’s fixture.
Peterborough scored twice in added time to claim a 2-1 win over the Rams in their first away fixture of the Championship season back in August and Rooney knows the Posh will pose a tough test for his side once again
“The lads have been great this week and training has been really good,” he said. “It was important that we moved on from the Middlesbrough defeat, which was a disappointing result for us.
“We have focused all week on Peterborough and how we feel we can hurt them with our qualities.
“Against Preston last weekend, they didn’t deserve to lose the game. We also watched the 0-0 draw with Reading on Wednesday night; it was a 50/50 game and the conditions weren’t great.
“We will be ready for Saturday and no doubt Darren Ferguson will have his team ready too.”
