PRE-MATCH INTERVIEW: Eustace previews Southampton home clash

John Eustace praised his Derby County squad’s efforts as they continue to ‘grow and build’ in the 2025/26 Sky Bet Championship.

Eustace’s side played out a 1-1 with Charlton Athletic at Pride Park Stadium on Tuesday night - which meant the Rams have picked up points in three of their last four league matches as the new-look squad, bolstered with 13 new signings in the summer alongside a number of departures, make steps in the right direction.

Derby will be looking to develop on these foundations as they play Southampton, relegated from the Premier League last season, on Saturday in their final Sky Bet Championship match-up before the upcoming international break.

Eustace sat down with RamsTV after training on Thursday afternoon to look ahead to Saturday’s league meeting with the Saints at Pride Park.

On knuckling down to work at Moor Farm Training Centre…

The boys have really good in training; it was great today, there was a real buzz about the players. To come back from a goal behind once again on Tuesday and show great intent to go and win the game was pleasing. We finished the game really positively and quite rightly so. The boys showed today that they're raring to go.

Reflections on recent form after the Charlton draw…

I'm encouraged that we're picking points. We want to be winning games, and we've been in a couple of positions at home where we could have done that. We have to learn from that. The group are getting fitter, stronger, and they're understanding the chemistry between each other, with their movements and where they want the ball.

It hasn't been as fluid as we want, but we've been in some great positions. We could have got three or four more points. I think one more win would have taken us to mid-table.

We're growing and building, so it's certainly not all doom and gloom. We're pleased with the progress we've made up to now. We wanted more points, but that's going to come throughout the season.

Over the course of the season, you end up where you should end up. We're a work in progress. I've been happy with the effort of the group, most importantly.

On opponents Southampton…

They have lots of quality, Championship and Premier League experience. We know they're going to come and dominate the ball and show everyone what a good footballing team they are, which they are. They're a good team, but we can't wait to take on that challenge.