I have to admit that I viewed the Coca-Cola Championship fixture list with some trepidation on the evening of Friday November 20th. Earlier that evening the Rams had produced a dreadful display at the Liberty Stadium to lose by the only goal to Swansea City. Worse, with the other teams still to play their weekend fixtures, there was the all to real possibility of dropping into the relegation zone.
Fortunately that didn’t happen, although other results that November weekend left Derby County in 19th position, just two points above the relegation zone.
The fixture list didn’t look too kind to us then. Difficult looking home games against Reading and high-flying, free-scoring West Bromwich Albion, to be followed by difficult away games (every away game is difficult right now) at Preston North End and Watford. It wasn’t difficult to imagine a situation in the run-up to Christmas where the Rams were in the relegation zone.
But, of course, I needn’t have worried. A combination of players returning from injury, plus a tremendous team spirit and character, saw Derby County go unbeaten through those four fixtures, picking up two wins and two draws for a very valuable eight points. And it could’ve been even better as the performance against WBA deserved three points.
And now the Coca-Cola Championship league table looks a lot healthier. That’s if you can call 17th place healthier. Of course I’d like Derby County to be higher, but the Rams are moving in the right direction.
More significantly, the gap between ourselves and the relegation zone has stretched to seven points. Bizarrely, we are also seven points shy of 6th place and the last playoff position, which shows how tight this league is.
There’s no doubt in my mind that the return from injury of Paul Green and Stephen Pearson has made a huge difference to the performances. Pearson, in particular, offers something different with his energy and late forward runs.
Chris Porter’s return has also been very welcome and he’s starting to show in substitute cameo performances exactly what Nigel Clough saw in him.
During this recent run there’s been a hard working commitment and team spirit shown by the players, most notably in resilient fashion during the late, late drama of the WBA game.
For me, the pride is back. And in our next two home games, against 15th placed Doncaster Rovers and surprise package Blackpool in 7th place, Derby County have an opportunity to make the league table look oh so much better still. Neither team should be underestimated, but both Doncaster and Blackpool are teams we should be looking to beat.
The pride is back.
You better believe it!
Stuart Hughes
14th December 2009
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