Thu 04 Dec - Posted in Breaking News
Time to read: 5mins
John Eustace says he is happy with the progress Derby County have been making in recent weeks - but has stressed the side aren’t yet the finished article.
Derby started the 2025/26 Sky Bet Championship season slowly, winning one of their first ten league matches, but there were mitigating circumstances as a new-look squad gelled together, players built up their fitness after injuries and navigated ins and outs right until the end of the summer transfer window.
Since the 1-0 reverse at Oxford United in mid-October, the Rams have won six of their last eight matches and risen into the top half of the second tier’s standings for the first time this term.
However, one win and two defeats in a busy three-game week last week against Watford, Swansea City and Middlesbrough highlighted Eustace’s belief that there’s still work for the Rams to do on the pitch.
Eustace says the squad, and the club, is building in the right direction after retaining its Championship status on the final day of the 2024/25 campaign and is well aware there is plenty of hard work ahead.
Derby return to action on Saturday with an all-East Midlands meeting with Leicester City at Pride Park Stadium (12:30pm kick-off) to kick off a demanding December schedule to see out 2025 and Eustace sat down with RamsTV to look ahead to the clash with the Foxes.
We were disappointed not to get more points out of the week, but we were extremely proud of the effort of the group. It was a difficult three-game period for us from a physical point of view and with lots of travelling. It was disappointing in terms of the goals we conceded, but I was pleased with how the lads stuck together and were competitive. We did cover a lot of miles and that does play its part, but we know we need to be better and defend better in the key moments, like we have done for most of the season. We scored goals in all the matches, which was pleasing. We need to keep working and learning from every game. This group is a top one to work with and they have a never-say-die attitude, which is always there and will take us a long way across a difficult Championship season.
I am delighted with the way we’ve been moving forward. There is a lot of hard work ahead of us and there will be ups and downs over the next month and into the second half of the season, which I think everyone is aware of and ready for. The most important thing is you can see the group and the club is building in the right direction. We are all together as one and we’ve got to keep working hard, especially in the difficult moments, keep believing and see where we end up.
We’ve got some fantastic work in on the pitch, and we’ve also had the opportunity to rest and protect a few of the lads after going through the full three-game week last week with injuries and whatnot.
Rhian is getting closer and will maybe be joining in training at the end of the week, which would be great. Trav is a few weeks away, but he is progressing nicely on the grass. Max is in the same position, but David is probably a little bit longer than that. We’re slowly getting bodies back, but it is important we protect them and don’t rush people. The medical team here are great and they’ll be doing everything they can to make sure the lads come back fit and ready.
We’ve got eight games between now and the early stages of January, so it is a big shift coming up but very much in line with what the Championship is. The squad we’ve got available will be ready for the challenge and we’ve got a no-excuses culture here. We’ll be prepared no matter who we are up against as competitive as we can be.
They are, obviously, a top team. They have fantastic players and are probably not where they want to be in the league right now, but I am sure they’ll finish the season strongly. We’ve got to just worry about ourselves and take care of what we want to do. We’re looking forward to an East Midlands derby and a big game; we can’t wait.
It will be key, but it has been in every game we have played so far. The fans have been amazing home and away, getting us through some difficult times, so it is not different this weekend. They were fantastic in our last home game against Watford; the fans are doing their bit and that is their job as part of this family and we’ve got to do our job on the pitch. We love playing at home and in front of the fans, so we can’t wait for Saturday.
Pride Park Stadium
Middlesbrough
Hull City
Wrexham
Derby County
Norwich City
Birmingham City
Swansea City
Bristol City
