Under pressure Derby County boss Paul Warne seeking much-needed win against Cobblers

Derby County manager Paul Warne knows he is in need of three points when Northampton visit Pride Park this evening to relieve some of the pressure that is building on his shoulders.

The Rams, who were pre-season title favourites, have stuttered to ninth in League One having won only one of their last four games, and they were beaten 3-1 by Stevenage on Saturday, ramping up the pressure on Warne.

"We need to go on a run,” admitted Warne. “No fan will listen to this and think 'he's got this on lock' – it's the obvious thing to say, but we need back-to-back wins.

"If we were to win tomorrow night and we win against Barnsley in our next league game then we might find ourselves in the play-offs with a game in hand and life looks a little better.

"If you ever underestimate the opposition then you are in trouble. Every team has something to fight for and I understand we're a scalp in this league but if we perform at the level we did on Saturday then we won't be a scalp for long.”

On selection, he added: “I've got a couple of queries. Sometimes you feel you need to change things to freshen the team up. We've got a few of the lads with a couple of issues so it's harder to name the team right now and after a defeat there's more things to address.

"We have to show the lads things but if you show them too many things, then what confidence they have, they lose. It's a thin line between being over-critical and under-critical so when you have just one day to prepare for the next game, it is not long.

"Sometimes a quick turnaround is a good thing. We get to wipe ourselves down and have a go again against a promoted team in Northampton that will ask us different questions. We need to go out on the front foot to perform and get three points.”