Derby County Head Coach Paul Warne believes his side are 'moving in the right direction' ahead of Tuesday evening's trip to Port Vale.
The Rams have won three games on the spin in Sky Bet League One and Warne believes it's a sign the team are improving, though, they aren't fully where they want to be just yet.
Speaking to RamsTV ahead of the midweek clash at Vale Park, Warne spoke about Nathaniel Mendez-Laing's relentless recent form and gave his thoughts on the test the Valiants will pose.
On Nathaniel Mendez-Laing's current form...
He's doing OK isn't he? He's in the best form since I've seen since I've been here and on his day he is probably the most destructive attacking player in the league.
He's created plenty of chances and we've missed a few, but he's added goals to his game as well. He's a massive force for this team, he takes his football seriously and does everything right to get himself in the best physical shape.
If the team plays well, 90% of the time it's because Nat has played well. He's that sort of diamond in the pack.
On whether he's done anything differently in recent weeks...
We've sort of slowly migrated Nat's defensive duties away from him. It's a risk and reward tactic. We haven't trained him any differently. We scrutinise the players' distances all the time and we've probably come off the lads a little bit in training which isn't something I'd normally advocate.
But all that aside, it's down to him. Nat is the one that controls his body, he is the one that thinks positively and gets at people and drives at defences. Sometimes you can look at symptoms or coaching strategies but the most important thing is what the player thinks. I think, psychologically, he's in a really good place.
On whether there's more to come from the group...
I think there is and I hopefully there is too. I'm more than respectful of the league but I think the best teams aren't as good as they've been in recent years and I include us as one of them. However, the middle 12 are virtually all the same. There's loads of decent performing teams but I don't think there's any outright 'wow or amazing teams'. We just aren't as polished as I would like and that's probably my fairest assumption. We've been unfortunate with a couple of injuries. It's been frustrating for us and him for John-Jules as we wanted him to play a big part. We've lost Tommo and Rooney for long periods but we have got a good group together now.
We've been OK without being amazing. I feel like we are moving in the right direction but maybe not as quickly as I would like. There have been some really good shoots of optimism and I think our home form has been really good. I feel like the group is closer than it was a few months ago but I always want more. We are in a good place but as always, I would like to be in an amazing place.
On Port Vale...
I loved that game last year when we we won 2-1 in the last minute. That match sort of summed up life in a very short moment. It was frustrating, agonising, exciting and then it was mesmeric and it was something I will never forget.
Port Vale haven't won in nine games in the league, however, they have won three cup games in that time and they outplayed Shrewsbury at the weekend but lost 2-1.
I know how difficult it will be and we'll probably have to be better than we were last year to win. I think four of the top six are playing each other so it could be a good way to grab some points back from those above us. Against Stevenage and Shrewsbury in our recent away defeats we weren't competitive enough to win a game away from home and we're going to have to be on Tuesday night.
It will be a really tough fixture but one we want to try and go and compete at a level to bring something back.
