Bradley Johnson is convinced that Derby County will be able to find different ways to win next season under Gary Rowett.
Johnson believes that Rowett, appointed as Derby’s manager in March, quickly stamped his ideas on the squad in the closing weeks of the campaign.
Midfielder Johnson, a promotion-winner with Norwich City to the Premier League in 2015, feels Derby will be a far different proposition for their opponents next season.
He believes, having seen encouraging signs towards the end of the 2016/17 campaign, that the Rams have the ability to mix up their game and adapt their style based on their opponents – rather than sticking to a certain way of playing.
A key area for Rowett, and something which has been backed up by Johnson, is the ability to win ugly – rather than relying on a slick footballing performance to claim all three points.
“The manager has come in and given us different ideas,” Johnson told RamsTV.
“Everyone talks about us being a good passing team, but we have to work equally as hard without the ball and stay together as a team.
“He’s come in and mixed it up; we’ve gone into some games more solid whereas in the past we would expect to go to places and just play our football.
“It’s a hard league and I’ve said all along this is the hardest one I’ve played in. I’ve been in the Premier League in the past, but in the Championship it’s a battle for points every week and you aren’t assured of a win at all.
“The manager has given us a few options in games and he has shown he isn’t afraid to make changes.”
He added: “You need to find different ways to win; sometimes you aren’t going to play to your best.
“At the end of the day, it’s the points that matter. We saw during the season, with Brighton for example, that the teams are the top had different ways of winning.
“They were solid and compact away from home and those ugly 1-0 wins they got were massive in the long run.
“We have to adapt to how teams play against us. Earlier in the season we felt we could just break down teams playing our way, but came unstuck at times.
“I feel we will be very different next year. We know we’ll have to go away from home and grind out results, which could be massive for us further down the line.”
Johnson admits that one key area marked for improvement next season is Derby’s away form.
While the Rams enjoyed positive form at Pride Park Stadium throughout the campaign, they found it difficult to pick up results on their travels on a consistent basis.
They recorded seven wins from 23 games away from home, as well as tasting defeat on 11 occasions.
Johnson feels the Rams need to have a stronger mentality on their travels.
“We know the away form has to improve and we have been a team that everyone wants to beat in the last few years,” he said.
“Our travelling fans go in big numbers and create a great atmosphere, so we need to reward them more.
“You have to earn the right to win in this league and away from home you do have to dig in more and grind it out.”