Derby County faced a tough start to life back in the Championship with a 4-2 defeat to Blackburn Rovers on the opening day – but now they’re back in action again.
Derby face Chesterfield Town in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night and the Rams’ boss will be keen to bounce back.
Clear favourites against League Two Chesterfield, Derby have a good chance to improve on the Blackburn game and regroup ahead of their first home league game against Middlesbrough on Saturday 17 August.
There are three key aspects of the game that Derby will need to rectify if they are to beat the Spirites.
Derby need to cut out mistakes in defence
Derby’s biggest issues against Blackburn surprisingly came at the back. The Rams had the best defensive record in League One last season, but it looked very different on Friday night.
Curtis Nelson missed a vital tackle which helped Tyrhys Dolan to a tap-in, and Callum Elder left Andreas Weimann completely unmarked giving the Lancashire-based side a 2-1 lead.
Costly mistakes will be punished, especially against Championship sides; Chesterfield was the top-scoring team in the National League last season so they are more than capable of jumping on any defensive errors that the Rams could make.
Rams should be more clinical in front of goal
One of Derby’s more obvious weaknesses before the start of the season was at the striker position. Goalscoring is a concern for Paul Warne and it showed against Blackburn.
Despite the Rams netting twice, they had 12 shots during the game with just four on target.
New signing Kayden Jackson failed to make a significant impact with Derby’s best chances coming from last season’s star player Nathaniel Mendez-Laing.
Warne is keen on signing an additional striker as Derby have been linked with Cauley Woodrow from Luton Town.
Paul Warne’s side are vulnerable to counter-attacks
The majority of Blackburn Rovers’ chances came from counter-attacking moves on Friday night as the Rams looked vulnerable at the back.
They left John Eustace’s side too much room on both the flanks and down the middle allowing the attackers to get in behind the defence and threaten Josh Vickers in goal.
Last season, Warne played a back five towards the end of the season giving the Rams a much more solid defensive line.
He may decide to change formation after a disappointing display at Ewood Park.