Derby County midfielder Conor Hourihane has revealed the clear message Paul Warne gave to his players ahead of the promotion run-in.
Derby County are on the verge of securing promotion back to the Championship following a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Cambridge United on Saturday.
Three points for The Rams moved them on to 89 points, now only needing a draw against Carlisle United to secure a top-two finish.
After a two-year absence from the second tier, star winger Nathaniel Mendez-Laing claims he’ll be having sleepless nights ahead of Saturday’s match.
Nerves have played a huge part across the season, with Paul Warne‘s men desperate to escape the third tier.
Those were evident in the goalless draw against Wycombe Wanderers two weeks ago with midfielder Conor Hourihane explaining what has changed since that day.
Paul Warne’s message to Derby County players after Wycombe draw
Many supporters clicked the panic button after Derby threw away two points at Wycombe, putting in a lacklustre performance which saw them record zero attempts on target.
Luckily, no ground was lost in the race for promotion as Bolton Wanderers drew back-to-back games against Portsmouth and Shrewsbury while Derby secured wins over Leyton Orient and Cambridge.
Having teed up a likely promotion party on Saturday afternoon, The Rams have done brilliantly to bounce back from their disappointment against Wycombe, with Hourihane now revealing how Warne switched the mentality of his players.
Encouraging his squad to relax and calm down has helped inspire two massive wins after the “erratic” display against The Chairboys.
“He’s [Paul Warne] been really good,” Hourihane told the EFL All Access podcast. “The big thing for me is Wycombe away about four games ago now, give or take.
“I felt like that was the big message we took away from that evening, we ended up drawing the game. I felt we were not relaxed, a bit erratic, a bit all over the place and we managed to come away with a draw.
“Since the clear message has been to relax and calm down a little bit out on the pitch in the last four or five games. The lads and the group have really taken on that message. It’s been a big, clear message over them four or five games. Hopefully, that will be the case leading into this weekend as well.”
A touch of class from Paul Warne
Instead of putting pressure on his players to perform, encouraging them to relax and calm down on the pitch is a message that has dragged Derby towards the brink.
Having led Rotherham to three promotions, Warne is an expert in these situations and not piling the pressure on has paid dividends, as long as they finish the job on Saturday.
A point is required for The Rams to celebrate a return to the Championship. The players will take a huge amount of the credit, but having galvanised his squad following that Wycombe match, Warne demonstrated he’s an expert in man management.
As a result, he’s on the verge of adding a fourth promotion to his impressive CV.
The post 'The big thing for me': Derby County star shares the 'clear message' Paul Warne gave ahead of run-in appeared first on Derby County News.