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Derby County need to get back to winning ways on Friday evening against Bristol City after two defeats in their opening two Championship games.
The Rams have not been at their best so far this season, with Stoke City and Coventry City both finding a way to beat the East Midlands outfit by two-goal margins in the last two league matches.
Frank Lampard loved his side’s victory on Saturday, with the Sky Blues coming back from 3-2 down to run out 5-3 winners in DE24, picking up their first win at Pride Park since 2003 in the process.
Nevertheless, for Derby, it should be a wake-up call as they look for a repeat of their home success over Bristol City from 12 months ago, and one EFL expert has warned them to tighten up.
George Elek has concerns for Derby County’s defence
The Rams have already conceded eight goals in their first two games of the season, with Jacob Widell Zetterstrom already facing 32 shots, with 17 of those hitting the target.
They’ve looked like conceding near enough every time they have been on the back foot, and George Elek is concerned about them. He said (via: NTT20 Podcast): “I think I am impressed certainly by Coventry’s efficiency from an attacking perspective. But I don’t think you can concede three goals against Derby and in the manner that they did. Well, I guess one’s a direct free kick, one’s a penalty.
“I don’t know. It was a really, really strange game is what I’m trying to say. And I think that with Coventry, there’s obviously huge upside in terms of what they’re doing at the moment, and carrying on from last season and the quality they’ve got in their squad.
“So I’m certainly not pouring any cold water over what they achieved in this game.
“It’s Derby that I’m more worried about really, to concede eight goals in their first two games of the season against Stoke and Coventry. I’m pretty sure we know what’s going to come next in terms of what John Eustace is going to try and do, which will be to tighten them up.
“But what that means for their attacking threat we will have to see.”
John Eustace has fixed the Rams once before
David Ozoh has attempted to ease fears over Derby’s start to the season, but with Bristol City looking strong, supporters will be looking forward to seeing their star players return from injury.
However, Eustace has been in this position already with the Rams, having lost his first three games in charge of the club in February.
The potential addition of Koki Saito will give them more avenues to attack on the wings, while Lewis Travis wants to join Derby.
Sondre Langas will be straight into the starting XI once he is fit, giving Matt Clarke the support he needs at the back, and Eustace knows that patience is needed in the early stages of this campaign.