Derby County boss Paul Warne has given his verdict on his side’s away form so far in the Championship, which has become a huge talking point.
The Rams have struggled on their travels so far in the second tier, yet to pick up a victory when playing away from home.
Just two points have been picked up on the road, with draws against Millwall and Oxford United bringing a bit more joy to the away support.
As a result, form at Pride Park has been vitally important to the hopes of survival, but that elusive away win will be required soon.
After Derby fell to defeat at Stoke, they will be looking to bounce back against Coventry on Wednesday night, who are starting to find some form.
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Paul Warne discusses Derby County away form
With away form, and performances, being such a key talking point at Derby this season, Warne has looked to set the record straight.
Having watched back the matches, the head coach has claimed that the side have been good but other teams have been that little bit better.
Speaking to RamsTV before the trip to Coventry, he claimed: “In fairness, I think the Stoke one was one of our worst [performances away from home].
“But I’ve been watching all our away games back and I’m not a massive statto guy but I even remember like the Sunderland one, we lost 2-0, but we had eight-to-one corners, more shots, more shots on target, we have moments in the game but moments you have to take.
“So Saturday [against Stoke], and he won’t mind me saying this because we’ve had a chat about it today already, we had a moment at 1-1 where the ball got put in from Callum [Elder] and it came to Kayden [Jackson] eight yards out, left foot, that goes in you could be 2-1 up, the game takes a different route.
“Prior to us conceding a foul of a goal, we might have come out of Stoke 1-1, even though we haven’t played as well as we should, that is true.
“So I think in moments in every game, the lads have been good and in moments the opposition have been better and that’s the best way I can put it.
“But for us to get a win away from home, a lot has to go right.”
Derby will be hoping that everything can go their way in the trip to Coventry on Wednesday night in a difficult clash.
The Sky Blues have an identical record in the league to the Rams but are currently unbeaten in their last three games.
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Have Derby County been unlucky away from home?
One question that may come as a result of the suggestion from Warne is whether or not Derby have been unlucky on their travels.
Looking at the data, there is some suggestion that they should have more points on the road but they certainly haven’t performed well.
Looking at the Expected Goals (xG) via SofaScore, the Rams have clearly been outmatched in most of their seven away matches.
Their current cumulative xG for on-the-road stands at 5.29, while their xG against stands at 9.516, giving an overall xG difference of -4.226 in away games this season.
In most cases, they have been outmatched, though there are two occasions where the Rams may feel aggrieved to not have taken more points.
Sunderland, as mentioned by Warne, is certainly one as the east Midlands outfit more than matched their opposition.
An xG of just 1.00 for the hosts compared to 0.95 for Derby suggests a draw may have been the fairer result with the opportunities available.
However, this is just an average of opportunities and it’s clear that while the Black Cats have players above that average – such as Jobe Bellingham’s fantastic strike in the tie – the Rams just aren’t performing above that with their own players.
The Oxford game is the only example this season where Warne’s side have actually won the xG battle on their travels.
An xG of 1.15 for Derby to the U’s 0.46 certainly suggests that a win was on the cards, but it wasn’t to be.
On the whole, though, it underlines how poor the side have been away from home, which is never the easiest task anyway.
Warne will need his players firing on all cylinders on Wednesday night if they are to finally pick up that first win away.