Paul Warne has admitted he is still expecting his Derby County squad to do one thing on Christmas Day.
Derby County are set to host Lincoln City tomorrow night and could head into Christmas six games unbeaten in League One, while they could also potentially move as high as third place.
While they still sit on the very edge of the play off spots, the Rams have enjoyed a solid start to the campaign and are now preparing for a relatively smooth Christmas period – on paper, anyway.
Derby will take on the likes of Burton Albion, Wigan Athletic and Fleetwood Town, while Peterborough United are their only opponents in the top eight.
Paul Warne will be well aware the Rams could be in a very strong position by the end of the year and his desperate for his team not to take their foot off the gas while getting into the festive spirit.
While Derby won’t be in training on Christmas Day, the manager is hopeful his players will still stick to a fairly loose schedule.
Speaking to RamsTV, Warne said: “I’ve never had my teams in on Christmas Day but I do expect the players to do something and send a video message to the group showing they’ve done something like a run.
“It’s based on trust and I expect a really good performance on Boxing Day.”
Will Derby County flop on Boxing Day?
Of course, players will want to enjoy themselves on Christmas Day, but that shouldn’t stop them from preparing for an important match the day after.
Boxing Day results always seem to be a bit all over the place, and you can often tell who may have gone a bit overboard with the festivities, but the Rams need to be at their best.
Derby County haven’t won a Boxing Day fixture since they beat Fulham 2-0, way back in 2015. Though, three of their last eight seasons has seen their Christmas fixture fall on the 27th December instead.
But it is definitely still a disappointing stat that Paul Warne will wish to end, and there is certainly no reason why they can’t against Wigan.
Wigan have won one of their last five matches in League One and find themselves in 17th place – seven points above the relegation zone.
Derby should be aiming for maximum points in their final three games of 2023, setting them up for an exciting second half of the campaign that could begin with them comfortably sat in the play-off spots.