Paul Warne wary of Derby County’s trip to struggling Cheltenham Town

Derby County make the trip to Cheltenham this weekend to face a struggling Cheltenham Town side.

Head Coach Paul Warne will be pleased as the Rams come off the back of an impressive 3-1 victory over Blackpool on Tuesday night placing his side in seventh place.

Meanwhile, Cheltenham Town have had a nightmare of a start. They sit last in League One with one point having not scored a goal yet this season. So the Rams will be hot favourites ahead of Saturday’s game.

But manager Paul Warne has stressed that any game is a challenge, he told Rams TV: “Every match is difficult and if, in any way, we turn up thinking we have a divine right to win, then it’s just naive.

“Luckily we go into it nearly fully fit with no new issues and we can do a little bit in the meeting room and a little bit on the grass today to keep us fresh for the weekend. If we have eight, nine or ten players on song then we are a difficult team to beat and hopefully that’s what we will be like again.

“People will think it’s a nailed on that we will get an away win but that isn’t how it ever is. We will have to fight for the right to get in their box as always and we will have to be at our very best to win any game.”

The Rams have earnt a nice record scoring more away goals than any side in the top four leagues. If Paul Warne’s side can continue their strong away from then they’ll be a strong promotion candidate for sure. Paul Warne added: “Any good news is good news and any good stuff about the team is great.

“We’re trying to get promoted and you have to be the best at a lot of things to get promoted. The more things you can tick along a way, the better.

“If we’re scoring goals away from home then that’s great. I don’t think we’ve been far off in many matches and it’s the moments that matter and we’ve probably had enough in a lot of away games to come out on top.”

His side come off the back of a strong away win against Blackpool which was arguably the Rams’ best performance this season so far. The Derby boss emphasised the importance of getting a good performance in, he said: “I enjoyed it and enjoyed watching the team play. We conceded a late goal and they did have a chance at 2-1 to equalise so if we’d have conceded that and drawn, we’d have come away really disappointed.

“Internally though, I was really pleased with the performance. All the goals were that end where the away fans were and it made everyone feel really part of it.

“The bench was really audible in the last 15 or 20 minutes cheering the lads on and it felt like a really good performance against a team that hadn’t lost at home and will be up there come the end of the season.”

Warne singled out midfielder Korey Smith as a standout performer in the Rams’ 3-1 win. He said: “I liked his goal because he won a header in the middle of the park, was on the ground and then got up to run to get into the box. If you’re not in the box then you’re never going to score.

“The fact he got all that way and caught the ball sweet as a nut is impressive.

“The only thing he did wrong was his celebratory run! All of our fans were one side and he ran the other way but, apart from that, his performance deserved the goal and the accolades he got.”

Derby County vs Cheltenham will be available to watch on Rams TV at 2:30pm on Saturday for international audiences with the game kicking off at 3pm.