Manager Frank Lampard wants his players to push on strongly in the Sky Bet Championship after picking up four points from their last two games.
Derby came back to beat second-placed Norwich City 3-4 in dramatic circumstances to record three points on the road on Saturday, whilst they followed that up with a respectable point in a home1-1 draw against Middlesbrough yesterday.
Having now played three of the top six twice already this season, Lampard wants his side to take the bull by the horns and continue to improve.
Speaking after the game, Lampard told RamsTV: “Norwich was fantastic and against Middlesbrough I felt like we probably could or should have won the game, but it was a difficult run and we always knew that.
“We sit in the play-off spots and we have to go again. The results around us are crazy every week, we must focus on ourselves and must push on from now.”
The manager was impressed with the contributions of Andre Wisdom and Duane Holmes against Middlesbrough.
Wisdom played at left-back for the third game in a row while Holmes came off the bench in the second half.
“I thought Wis was good all game,” Lampard admitted.
“He was getting up and down and crossing balls. He is calm on the ball, he does see a pass from that position and I thought he had a really good game.
“I put Duane on to give us some energy, speed and quality into the team. He did it against Norwich and influenced the result and he tried his hardest to influence the result today. It was good to watch and Duane will get more opportunities.”
A man who returned to the squad yesterday was left-back Max Lowe who recently spent the first half of the season on loan with Scottish Premier League side Aberdeen.
Lampard said: “He has played very well and I’ve been in constant contact with the club and they were happy with him. We need him because of our injury situation so I’m delighted to get him back.
“The whole point of the loan is for him to play regularly at a good level. He was playing against Rangers and Celtic in front of big crowds and he has coped with it very well so now when he gets his opportunity, it is there for him.”
Attention now turns away from the stresses and strains of the Championship as the Rams are in FA Cup action this weekend with a home tie against Southampton.
“The FA Cup is another focus,” Lampard added.
“We all love the FA Cup against Premier League opposition so that is a good test for us. We will take that one on and look forward to Leeds.
“I grew up loving the FA Cup, I’ve won the FA Cup and I want to give it our all. Our fans deserve that. We all know our fans love cup runs from what we had earlier in the season so we will be giving everything to try and win the game.”