Derby County Head Coach Paul Warne believes his side can go into Saturday's game with Cambridge United at Pride Park Stadium with 'a real belief' following back-to-back victories.
The Rams have registered 2-0 wins against Lincoln City in the EFL Trophy and Carlisle United in Sky Bet League One respectively in the last two outings and will look to make it three in a row for the first time this season when Cambridge come to town.
Speaking to RamsTV, Warne previewed Saturday's game but first took some time to reflect on a difficult week following the sad news of the passing of goalkeeper Josh Vickers' wife, Laura, last week.
On Josh Vickers...
I've just spent the last 30-40 minutes in the office with him and my coaches. There's nothing we can say that will make him feel any better. He's a good kid and it's weird with footballers, they get bad rap sometimes but he definitely should not.
Out of all the players I've ever worked with, he's probably the best professional I've ever had. It's just really sad. For anyone that knows Josh, he's such a unique character. I was there when he left the stadium last Tuesday and I was broken seeing him broken in my office.
I contacted him after the game against Carlisle last weekend and told him we'd done something for him and I just wanted to tell him that we'd be here for him whenever he wants to come back.
He knows the whole football club are with him and, in fairness, it feels like the whole football fraternity are with him in this horrific time.
On the tribute to Josh following the Carlisle victory...
It gives you hope in humanity. He told me he'd even got a card sent to him from a Plymouth Argyle fan. The lads are fully behind him. Most of them have partners and kids and appreciate the value of life and living in the moment and when one of your team-mates is hurting like that, it's pretty tough.
It was a hard week last week and it will be tough for the lads this week, but it was a touching moment at Carlisle. I like the fact that the lads felt like they were playing for him. They were committed and proud to feel like they were doing so. It's a really sad time but we're all here to help him through.
On training this week...
We've had a great week of training and the lads have trained really well. We had some good video time on Monday and a few individual meetings on things we need to improve on.
It has been good on the training ground and having Birdy back out there is a boost as well.
On reviewing the Carlisle game...
In fairness, it's just about winning games. We had about six or seven really good counter-attacks that we should have done better with. We defended pretty resolutely and limited them to two or three shots from distance. It wasn't horrific, it just wasn't as controlled as I would like.
Every game we play is difficult so I was pleased with the result, the clean-sheet and pleased that we've managed to get back-to-back wins and clean-sheets. We go into Saturday's game with a real belief.
On the current injury situation...
Max Bird will definitely be involved this weekend. We've missed Birdy. He brings a control on the ball and a real energy. I felt him and Tommo were our standout players early in the season, so they've both been a big miss.
Who doesn't want their best players back? Joe Ward isn't far off, Liam Thompson is a little bit further behind and Conor Hourihane shouldn't be too far behind either.
On Elliot Embleton's injury...
It's as bad as it can get for Elliot, bless him. He took a set-piece at the end of the session last Friday and he's got severe damage to his quad. It looks like it will need surgical repair so he will be out for a number of months.
He's having the operation and doing his rehabilitation work up in Sunderland. I really feel for the kid because I know how hard it is to come back from long-term injuries and it's quite prevalent to get a secondary injury.
It was a shock to us all and it's a huge blow to Elliot.
On facing Cambridge United on Saturday...
They've had an excellent start to the season in fairness and although they've lost a couple recently, to Wigan and Peterborough, they have been narrow.
I've always like Cambridge as a club and I love their manager because he introduced me to a Cheese Board after a game!
He's built a new team this summer, recruited really well and got some really good experience along the back line. The two games we had with them last year were really tough and they will come here with a real confidence.
We will have to be at our very best, possibly better than we have been so far at home, to get a win.
On a three-game week coming up...
If we can come back off the back of three games this week collecting 6,7 or 9 points then it will look good. I think the lads are in a positive run of form.
I know we don't have more players to pick from but it does feel like we have more competition for places.
My door is like the Wild West at the moment with players asking to be in the team! We've got good players in good form and I look forward to watching them perform over the next few games.
Hopefully we come through injury free and, after that, we should be in a much healthier place.
