Finishing the 2021/22 season strongly is the key aim for Derby County, according to midfielder Max Bird.
The 21-year-old, who has been a consistent performer for the Rams during the campaign, admitted that despite relegation to Sky Bet League One, the players will not be taking their foots off the gas as they look to finish the campaign in good form.
Derby dropped into the third tier of English football for the first time since 1986 on Easter Monday as they were beaten 1-0 by Queens Park Rangers at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium.
It wasn’t their form on the pitch that was their undoing, however. A 21-point deduction, imposed for entering administration and for a historical breach of profitability and sustainability rules, gave the Rams a huge mountain to climb.
But, Derby defied the odds and fought back strongly. Impressive home victories over Stoke City, AFC Bournemouth, Sheffield United and Hull City moved the Rams to within four points of safety at one point in the season, but the points total was just too much to claw back.
Another memorable home victory followed on Good Friday as Wayne Rooney’s side defeated league leaders Fulham 2-1 at Pride Park Stadium, but Monday’s defeat in the capital against Mark Warburton’s side ensured Derby will be playing League One football next season.
The Rams still have three games remaining this term, starting with Bristol City at home on Saturday (3pm kick-off) - a place which has been a fortress for Rooney’s side this season - and Bird wants to close out the campaign in good form.
“We will try and finish the season as strongly as we can,” he told RamsTV. “We will try to pick up nine points and put ourselves in a good position going into the off-season. We have a feel-good factor as a team, we want to win the last three matches and take that into the next season.
“We will enjoy our break because we know it’s been a tough year but, for our fans, we know we have to finish strongly. We have got two home games, so we know we have to win those. The support in the away end at Blackpool will be huge too so we will try and put on a show for them which is important.
“We need to take each game as it comes, like we have throughout the season, but not throwing it out the window. We are going to go into the games with the same mentality of trying to win.
“I’ve got a winning mentality and I know the manager and every single person in the dressing room has, so it’ll be exactly the same. Even though we have been relegated, we still want to win football games.”
The midfielder has been forced to miss the last three matches owing to a first red card of his career picked up during the 1-0 victory over Preston North End at Pride Park over two weeks ago.
Bird has continued to show his support to his team-mates, despite not being available for three games, and took in a different vantage point for the game against Queens Park Rangers on Monday as he was in amongst the fans, singing and chanting.
The Rams’ faithful were loud all afternoon, as they have been all season long, and gave the players a standing ovation at the final whistle as their fate was sealed.
“I wanted to support the lads and support the team and then just to get a different perspective of it,” he said. “Knowing how good the fans have been this season, I’m a football fan at the end of the day as well. I used to watch Manchester United a lot as a kid, so I miss it in a way.
“I wanted to get a different perspective of it and watch the game from a different angle which always helps as a player. Most importantly, I wanted to support the lads, sing the songs that the fans have been singing all season and try to push the lads over the line.
“It shows we have got a phenomenal relationship with the fans. We have given it our all this season and they have helped us in every single game. I can’t think of one match where they haven’t been the best set of fans in the ground and the relationship is fantastic.
“It’s something we’ve tried to build this season and we’ve known we’ve needed them during the season, whether we’re on a bad run of form or a couple of goals down - Birmingham City at home in January when we came back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 sticks out in my mind - but they have been brilliant with us.
“The fans were brilliant all day long on Monday and exactly what I expected of them having listened to them all season. They have been phenomenal and it was a tough one to take but like the manager has said, we have got to stay positive and be proud of what we have done this season. We’ve got to keep smiling and finish the season well.”
