3/1 To Win
Wayne Rooney has made it clear that Derby County need to start turning their positive performances on the road into points on the board.
Derby are back in Sky Bet Championship action on Tuesday evening when they head to promotion-chasing Blackburn Rovers (7:45pm kick-off).
Rooney’s side have lost their last six away matches in the league, but their displays have merited a much better points return.
As the Rams battle to avoid relegation, following a 21-point deduction, they are five points adrift of Reading outside the bottom three with nine matches remaining.
Derby’s home form is one of the best in the league and they have churned out points in front of the home faithful throughout the campaign, but on their travels they have struggled for victories.
It’s something Rooney wants to put right and he says his players need to produce in the attacking third when it really matters.
“We have to keep doing the right things; do what we are doing, be brave on the ball and keep playing,” Rooney told RamsTV. “We prepare the team, we plan how we want to play and then the players have got to go out there and when we get chances, take them.
“We have asked the players to be creative and take risks, try things and try and impose themselves on the game in the final third.
“We are down to the last nine games of the season and we need to start turning some of these performances into wins.”
Blackburn occupy fifth spot in the league table but have hit a sticky patch of late after winning once in nine outings.
Despite that, Tony Mowbray’s side remain firmly in the promotion hunt and were 2-1 winners at Pride Park Stadium when the sides met earlier in the season.
Chilean international Ben Brereton Diaz scored both goals for the visitors in the first half, before Curtis Davies pulled a goal back late on to set up a grandstand finish.
Rooney is anticipating a tough test and wants his players to stamp their qualities on the game.
“It will be a tough game,” Rooney said. “Blackburn are a good team and high up the league. They play a bit, but they do go direct to the two lads up top who can cause problems, so we need to be ready for that.
“If we take the game to them and impose our style, and way of playing, on them then we will cause them problems as well.
“We have to go there confident, be brave and try and get three points.”
