Pre-Match Thoughts: 'We're Up For The Challenge' - Wildsmith

Derby County goalkeeper Joe Wildsmith says the side are 'up for the challenge' as they look to continue their fine form in Sky Bet League One.

Paul Warne's sude currently find themselves on a run of seven wins and one draw in their last eight in the league and head into their final match of 2023 sitting just two points outside of the automatic promotion places ahead of the trip to Oxford United on Friday night (7:45pm kick-off).

Speaking to RamsTV ahead of another road trip over Christmas, Wildsmith reflected on the impressive performance in the 1-0 success at Wigan Athletic on Boxing Day and looked ahead to the clash against a top six rival to see out the year.

Reflections on the Wigan win...

I thought, especially in the first half, we were really good. The lads came out of the traps quickly and put some really good passages of play together. We created some good opportunities and their goalkeeper made some excellent saves. I thought we were fully deserving of the lead at half-time and then it was a case of grinding it out at the end. The lads at the back were brilliant, it was a real team effort and it was great to get the three points and send the fans home at Christmas happy after a pleasing performance.

On the defensive performances...

I couldn't have asked for any more from the lads in front of me this season. They've been solid and they are good on the ball as well in helping the team build from the back and get into good positions. As a unit, I've been really pleased and having the characters we've got in that backline is massive. It doesn't matter who's playing, everybody does a job. You saw Sonny Bradley come on against Wigan, he headed the back of someone and paid the price with a bloody nose, but it's all for the cause and it helped get us that clean sheet and three points that kept us moving in the right direction.

On the confidence within the dressing room...

The lads are buzzing. The atmosphere is great in there. It's a positive vibe and we're really riding that at the moment and taking it into every game. We've got a couple of tough fixtures against teams that are in and around us now going into the New Year so we're really looking forward to that. We'll give it our best shot and hopefully come out with three points.

On what he's expecting from Oxford United...

They lost their manager recently had a little sort of blip in results but they got back to winning ways on Boxing Day. It will be a very tough game, especially down at their place. We're taking big confidence going there eight unbeaten and we want to right a wrong that happened at our place earlier in the season when they beat us 2-1. We want to get three points and move in the right direction going into the New Year. We want to put ourselves in a really good position to show everyone that Derby County are here and we're up for the challenge.

On the state of play in the top six...

It's really tight. There are seven teams in-and-around the play-offs and the top two. Portsmouth and Peterborough both failed to win on Boxing Day so it brought the pack even closer together. Results are as important as ever right now, especially when playing against those opponents. They almost become six-pointers at the halfway stage! It would be great to take points off our straight rivals and the lads are full of confidence, on a great run and hopefully we can go into the New Year with maximum points.