Ben Osborn speaks out on Derby County situation as he issues survival verdict
Ben Osborn believes Derby County “can get out” of relegation trouble in the Championship.
The Rams slipped into the drop zone for the first time this season in the wake of a sixth straight league defeat on Saturday, losing 2-1 at Cardiff City. January striker signing Lars-Jorgen Salvesen scored his first goal for the club, but two goals in three minutes in the second half condemned Paul Warne’s side to another dispiriting defeat.
Osborn admits Derby “are not in a great place” ahead of facing his former club Sheffield United at Pride Park on Saturday (3pm), but he believes they can turn their fortunes around and avoid an immediate return to League One.
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"I've seen it loads of times - I've been in quite a few relegation scraps unfortunately," he said. "We are not in a great place at the moment in terms of form. You just do need that result, but I am confident we can get out of it.
"In other teams where I have been in relegation scraps, whenever we won it was scrappy 1-0 or 2-1 or something like that, and here we have had some really good performances where we have run all over other teams,” he added. “And that doesn't happen if you are a team destined to be near the bottom of the table.
"So we have got it in us. But first and foremost we need to take the lead in games, but failing that we need to be a bit more resolute throughout the whole 90 minutes."
The Rams have won six of 14 home matches in the Championship so far this campaign which gives Osborn hope ahead of facing a huge challenge against the Blades, who are in second place in the table and battling it out to return to the Premier League.
“We've produced some really good performances at home, we're going to need the fans and everyone behind us as well as a real team effort to get that result that gives us the confidence to go on a bit of a run and I do believe it'll come,” he said. “It's a big game between two massive clubs in the Championship. We've got to give it a right go, take the game to Sheffield United and hopefully try and get a result.”
