‘Makes no difference’ – Derby County boss John Eustace sends Championship survival warning after Preston victory

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Derby County continued their incredible run of form under John Eustace on Wednesday evening, as they dispatched Preston North End in a 2-0 victory under the lights at Pride Park Stadium.

The Rams headed into the game off the back of a two-and-a-half week break as the Premier League and Championship halted for international fixtures, and after a tense first half, they quickly showed that their desire to finish outside the bottom three had not diminished.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
18	Stoke CityStoke City	39	10	12	17	40	52	-12	42
19	Oxford UnitedOxford United	39	10	12	17	40	57	-17	42
20	DerbyDerby	39	11	8	20	42	51	-9	41
21	Hull CityHull City	39	10	11	18	39	48	-9	41
22	CardiffCardiff	39	9	13	17	43	63	-20	40

Goals from veteran Craig Forsyth and Jerry Yates, who is on loan from Swansea City, handed the East Midlands outfit their fourth consecutive win in the league.

It was a crucial three points, with the Rams taking themselves out of the bottom three for the first time since they were beaten 4-0 by Queens Park Rangers in Eustace’s first game in charge back in February, and Derby supporters were delighted with the result.

However, their head coach was not willing to rest on his laurels, and he sent a clear message out to the rest of the division, and his players, after the final whistle.

John Eustace warns Derby to not get ahead of themselves after Preston victory

Derby’s form under Paul Warne had been poor to say the very least, and by the time he was sacked on February 7, they were in desperate need of fresh ideas to help take them out of danger in the Championship.

Despite kicking off his tenure with three defeats, Eustace has transformed Derby recently and quickly turned his team into one with a strong winning mentality, and this has been reflected in their run of form.

It’s the first time since July 2020 that Derby have won four games in a row in the league and they are benefiting greatly from the consequences of their actions by moving out of the relegation zone.

But the former Blackburn Rovers manager is not overly keen on focusing on that matter for now, and instead in his post-match press conference after the final whistle on Tuesday, he stated how he only cares about his team’s position come the end of the season.

He told the media (via Derbyshire Live): “I think if we’re out of it at the end of the season, it’s all I’m worried about. We can easily go back into it on Saturday.

“It makes no difference at the moment, we’re just working our socks off until the end of the season to make sure we stay out of the bottom three,” the 45-year-old concluded.

Derby’s clash with Swansea on Saturday is another six-pointer

While supporters have a right to be pleased with the win against Preston on Tuesday, it will mean nothing if they are beaten by Swansea in South Wales at the weekend and head back into the bottom three.

According to Opta, the Rams have just a 25.24% chance of tasting relegation back to League One, a statistic that is lower than four other teams in the division right now.

However, Eustace will be keen to avoid any outside pressure heading into Saturday’s clash, as he will know himself just how important picking up another three points is for Derby and maintaining this run of form that they are on.

Without Yates in the team due to being unavailable to play against his parent club, the Rams will need some tricks up their sleeve, but they will be full of confidence as they look to add to their points tally.