Derby County goalkeeper Joe Wildsmith has spoken of his confidence ahead of their trip to Oxford United tomorrow night.
After securing a 1-0 victory over Wigan Athletic on Boxing Day thanks to Curtis Nelson’s first-half header, Derby have every right to be confident.
Paul Warne’s side are unbeaten in their last eight matches in League One and have kept the second-most clean sheets in the division (10).
Derby continue to sustain pressure at the top of the table with that victory moving them to within two points of third-place Bolton Wanderers and second-place Peterborough United.
The Rams can ill-afford to take their foot off the gas in their pursuit of automatic promotion, though, and a tough challenge against Oxford United awaits.
Oxford find themselves in the play-off positions under new leadership in head coach Des Buckingham who replaced Liam Manning.
With the two sides gridlocked on 43 points each, it promises to be a mouth-watering clash and Joe Wildsmith has given his verdict ahead of a crucial match.
Joe Wildsmith says Derby are ‘up for the challenge’ against Oxford United
When asked about what he expects from his side against Oxford, he told Derby’s official website: “We’re taking big confidence going there eight unbeaten and we want to right a wrong that happened at our place earlier in the season when they beat us 2-1.
“We want to get three points and move in the right direction going into the New Year. We want to put ourselves in a really good position to show everyone that Derby County are here and we’re up for the challenge.”
During their impressive unbeaten run, several players have stepped up for Derby and scored some vitally important goals to keep them hot on the heels of the automatic promotion places.
Derby can score goals from anywhere but do need attacking reinforcements
Whilst Nathaniel Mendez-Laing has been a level above in the final third, the Rams have also seen goals come from the most unlikely of sources.
Nelson’s goal against Wigan proved to be the winner while in the match before Warne needed some heroics from Kane Wilson off the bench to secure three points against Lincoln City.
The key ingredient for any team hunting for promotion is having goals arrive from across the pitch and Derby are certainly proving they have multiple sources in the final third.
Indeed, Warne’s side have seen their defenders weigh in with goals, though he’ll want to address that in the January transfer window.
Although the Rams are so strong defensively, one criticism of them currently is how wasteful they are in the final third.
Derby can’t continue relying on their defenders to produce match-winning moments and it is vitally important they strengthen their forward line in January.