Derby County are on the verge of regaining promotion to the Championship after a hard-fought 1-0 win over Cambridge United on Saturday.
The Rams’ three points boosted them to 89 points, meaning they just need a draw against Carlisle United to finish in the top two.
After a two-year hiatus from the second tier, star winger Nathaniel Mendez-Laing says he’ll be experiencing sleepless nights ahead of Saturday’s game.
Nerves have been a major factor throughout the season, with Paul Warne’s side desperate to escape the third tier.
Those were clear in the goalless draw against Wycombe Wanderers two weeks ago, and midfielder Conor Hourihane explained how things have evolved since then.
Paul Warne’s statement to Derby County players after the Wycombe draw
Many fans panicked after Derby squandered two points at Wycombe, putting in a poor performance with zero attempts on goal.
Fortunately, no ground was lost in the promotion battle when Bolton Wanderers drew consecutive games against Portsmouth and Shrewsbury, while Derby defeated Leyton Orient and Cambridge.
Having set up a potential promotion party on Saturday afternoon, The Rams have done excellently to recover from their defeat against Wycombe, with Hourihane now revealing how Warne changed his players’ mindset.
Encouraging his side to relax and settle down has resulted in two major victories following the “erratic” performance against The Chairboys.
He’s [Paul Warne] been really good,” Hourihane stated on the EFL All Access podcast. “The key issue for me is that Wycombe left probably four games ago, give or take.
I felt like it was the main takeaway from that evening, and we ended up drawing the game. I felt we were not calm, chaotic, and all over the place, but we managed to sketch.
“Since the clear message has been to relax and settle down a little bit on the field during the last four or five games. The lads and the group have really embraced that theme. It’s been a big, unmistakable message throughout the past four or five games. Hopefully, that will continue throughout this weekend as well.
Instead of putting pressure on his players to succeed, he encourages them to relax and settle down on the pitch, which has pushed Derby to the verge.
Warne, who has guided Rotherham to three promotions, is an expert in these situations, and not putting too much pressure on has paid off, as long as they do the job before Saturday.
A point is required for the Rams to celebrate their return to the championship. The players will take the majority of the credit, but Warne shown that he is a specialist at man management by galvanising his side following the Wycombe encounter.
As a result, he is on the verge of adding a fourth promotion to his already excellent resume.
