Thu 20 Nov - Posted in Breaking News
Time to read: 4mins
Head Coach John Eustace is relishing the resumption of Derby County’s Sky Bet Championship schedule following the final international break of 2025.
Derby will return to action following the two-week November international window with a typically demanding three-game week in the second tier.
They will host Watford at Pride Park Stadium on Saturday (3pm kick-off), before visiting Swansea City in midweek and Middlesbrough next weekend to round off a busy eight days.
Eustace’s side entered the two-week gap without a fixture in excellent form, having won five Championship fixtures in a row against Norwich City, Queens Park Rangers, Sheffield United, Hull City and Blackburn Rovers to climb into the top half of the table for the first time this term.
The Derby boss sat down with RamsTV on Thursday afternoon at Moor Farm to discuss the side’s return to action, the latest injury news from the squad and reflect on the international break.
It has been great for the lads. The players worked really hard and they also had a few well-deserved days off too. Overall, the intensity has been good and the attitude has been great. It has been pleasing to see the international boys come back and be ready to go too.
They’ve all come back in one piece, and it was nice to see Jacob Widell Zetterström playing for Sweden and Sondre Langås with the Norway squad as they reached the World Cup. Ben Brereton Díaz scored for Chile and Callum Elder got minutes with Australia for the first time in four years, which is fantastic and shows the hard work that he puts in on the training field and with the coaches is paying off. It has been a positive period for them all and shows that the club is going in the right direction. We want to develop individuals and allow them to showcase themselves; we want as many internationals at Derby County as we can.
Unfortunately, Owen Beck has had to have surgery on his hamstring, and he will missing for the next few months. It has been a difficult time for him, and the club, but especially him. We brought him in a few weeks before the start of the season and, having worked with him before, I know he is a fantastic player. It is not his time to come and showcase himself for us, but he will learn from this experience and he will come back stronger and be ready to go again.
On David Ozoh, it isn’t going to be as bad as we thought initially. It is a four-or-five-week injury, and he is two weeks in already. He has been an important player for us recently and to lose him is a blow, but we’ve got players to come in and they’ll be ready to take their chance.
Watford is a club I know well; I had a great five years there as captain as a player. I have a few close friends there and it is a fantastic club. They’ve been up in the Premier League and come back down again. They have recruited good individual players. It is certainly a good club, and they have an experienced manager who knows Watford well, having been there before. He has worked at some big clubs around Europe too and I am sure they’ll be pushing up the league between now and the end of the season. It is a good challenge for us to go up against a good team, with an exciting squad, and we can’t wait to get going.
It is important to be level-headed. We’ve got a busy schedule coming up and things can change around quickly. The Championship is relentless, and it is a 46-game season with highs and lows. The group are in a good place at the moment and working really hard. The most important thing is that we’re competitive in every game and we believe in the process and keep doing the right things.
Pride Park Stadium
Middlesbrough
Hull City
Wrexham
Derby County
Norwich City
Birmingham City
Swansea City
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