Pre-Match Thoughts: 'Every Point Is Important' - Barker

Assistant Head Coach Richie Barker says 'every point is important' as Derby County prepare to enter the final 10 games of the 2023/24 season.

The Rams travel to Bristol Rovers on Saturday looking to build on last weekend's 3-0 home victory over Port Vale and remain at the top end of the Sky Bet League One standings.

Speaking to RamsTV ahead of the trip to Bristol, Barker reflected on last weekend's win and previewed the clash with the Gas.

Reflections on the Port Vale victory...

We're at the time of the season now where the result becomes more important than the performance, but I thought in the first 20 minutes we were as good as we've been for a good few weeks. We finished the first half really well and managed the second half really well and we probably could have gone on and got a couple more goals.

On responding to back-to-back defeats for the first time this season...

We didn't want that run to go on any further. It was the first time we'd lost two in a row in the league all season, so it was important we got three points back on the board and the lads gained confidence from it.

On a week back on the training ground...

It has been an important week. We very rarely get to work on individuals and in units, so that's been quite useful and to also to give the lads a bit of the mental downtime. Your brain never turns off and people can underestimate the importance and the amount of energy that gets used thinking about what's coming up with constant runs of games.

On how he's feeling about the run-in...

We all know that every point is going to be important now. There are a lot of twists and turns to come and what we can do is just look after ourselves. I'm looking forward to the run-in but there will be ups and downs and I think it may go to the last day.

On whether anything changes during the run-in...

We will certainly be training less. You also have to be aware that if anyone picks up an injury for three or four weeks then it's pretty much their season over. The transfer window is shut so there will be no more people coming in and, in fairness, the players are all pretty much match fit. It's just about keeping them sharp, keeping their brains sharp and keeping them tactically sharp. It will be over before we know it, so we just have to monitor them all and make sure they are ready for the game rather than training harder.

On Bristol Rovers...

They've had a decent run over the last few weeks. It's always a difficult place to go. It's a stadium I really enjoy going to, because it's old school. They have some good players but on the road over the last few months we've been relatively successful and we need to try and continue that.