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What Paul Warne thinks is ‘missing’ from Derby County before Millwall trip in clear message to fans

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Following the international break, Derby County face a trip to Millwall in the Championship as they go in search of their first away win of the season.

It’s been a solid start to the campaign for Derby after being promoted, taking four wins from their first nine games.

All of those victories have, of course, come at Pride Park, with Paul Warne’s men struggling to repeat that trick on their travels.

A trip to The Den could represent a chance to change their fortunes, with EFL pundit Sam Parkin predicting Derby to draw against Millwall.

Position Team Played MP Won W Drawn D Lost L For GF Against GA Diff GD Points Pts
10 Oxford UnitedOxford United9 3 3 3 13 11 2 12
11 SwanseaSwansea9 3 3 3 8 6 2 12
12 DerbyDerby9 4 0 5 12 12 0 12
13 Hull CityHull City9 3 3 3 12 13 -1 12
14 PlymouthPlymouth9 3 2 4 10 13 -3 11
Derby County v Cardiff City - Sky Bet Championship
Photo by MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Paul Warne’s message to Derby fans ahead of Millwall

Warne shared an injury update on six of his Derby players ahead of Saturday’s match, including Crystal Palace loanee David Ozoh.

Ozoh is ‘really close’ to featuring this weekend, although it remains to be seen whether the 19-year-old is risked.

Heading into this match, the Rams haven’t won a league game on their travels since Nathaniel Mendez-Laing scored in a 1-0 win over Cambridge United in April.

However, that hasn’t stopped the fans from travelling in their numbers, with 3,000 supporters descending towards East London this weekend.

Warne is determined to reward the ‘brilliant’ Derby fans with their first away points this term, claiming it’s the only thing that is ‘missing’ so far.

“It means a lot to the players the staff and everyone. I always massively respect our away fans, as they stay to the final whistle,” Warne said on Derby’s official website.

“Hopefully we can put a performance on and pick some points up on the road because that’s sort of the only thing missing so far this season, really.

“Our performances haven’t been bad, but we haven’t been on the right side of the scoreline. We want to correct that on Saturday and put in a performance in front of 3,000 fans, which is brilliant.”

How Derby’s away attendances rank vs Championship rivals

Derby are one of the biggest clubs in the Championship in terms of size.

They may have not experienced the taste of Premier League football since 2008 but the excellent support of the fans has been one constant.

The Rams are only behind Sunderland and Leeds United for their home attendance, averaging 29,000 fans at Pride Park since returning to the second tier.

As for their away attendance, Derby rank fifth with an average of 2,472 fans per game, despite losing their first four Championship away matches.

Championship average away attendanceNo. of fans
Leeds United2,717
Coventry City2,717
West Brom2,515
Sunderland2,513
Derby County2,472
Figures taken from Sunderland Echo

It is tremendous support considering Leeds, West Brom and Sunderland are all chasing promotion while the Rams’ minimum expectation is to survive, something they should feel confident of achieving after the first two months of action.