Cocu believes ‘there is always a chance’ for Derby’s play-off hopes

Jo Harrison
Phillip Cocu TEAMtalk

Phillip Cocu believes “there is always a chance” that his Derby County side could get in the top-six, but insists he is not focusing on the play-offs.

Derby ran out 3-0 winners at Pride Park against Blackburn on Sunday afternoon with 18-year-old Louie Sibley putting the Rams in front with his first Championship goal before a Chris Martin brace sealed the three points, against a Rovers side would’ve gone sixth on goal difference with a win. The result put the Rams into the top half and leaves them five points off the play-offs.

It was one of Derby’s stand-out performances of the season, leading to murmurs of Cocu’s men mounting a late charge towards the play-offs.

“There is always a chance if you count the amount of games and points,” said Cocu.

Derby have an incredibly tough run-in, seven of their last nine fixtures are against sides currently above them in the table, and they still have five of the current top six to play. They face Millwall on Saturday; the Lions stunned Nottingham Forest with a 3-0 win at the City Ground on Friday night.

 

However, Cocu believes this could actually be an advantage to the Rams: “We have some difficult games to play against teams above us, but if you have a result against them you get closer.

“But I don’t want to focus too much only on the play-offs because if you get a draw, you think ‘it’s gone’.

“I just want us to keep playing like we did against Blackburn. We will try to win every game, of course, but as I said last time it is about getting (performances and consistency) in the team for the long-term and next season.”