Wayne Rooney explains what Derby County need to do after loss to Luton Town | OneFootball

Derby County lost for the third time in their last four league matches at the hands of Luton Town on Saturday.

The Hatters climbed into sixth place as a result and with Barnsley winning against Middlesbrough, the Rams ended up in a far worse position in their relegation battle come the final whistle.

Wayne Rooney remained in good spirits despite the defeat and explained where Derby will look to improve when he spoke to The Athletic.

He said: “Don’t be too disappointed, don’t be too down.

“We’re hurt, but we’ve got to get over it.

“Especially now in this part of the season, we need to.

“However we do it performance-wise, whether it’s a scrappy win, we need to start picking up these wins.”

Barnsley have won three of their last four under Poya Asbaghi and have a large group of survivors from their squad that pulled off a last-gasp escape from relegation in 2019/20.

Derby are eight points from safety, Reading in 21st place, but the Tykes’ resurgence may possibly be of greater concern to Rooney, with many puzzled by Barnsley’s alarming drop-off from the performance levels that saw them finish fifth in the Championship last season.

Derby now play Cardiff City and Barnsley back-to-back, a run of games that could make or break their survival hopes.

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Rooney’s level-headedness in such testing circumstances has been very impressive this season and it is good to see that, with games running out, his approach has not changed.

The former England captain has produced a Derby County side to be proud of this season and being in the survival conversation at this stage of the season is an achievement in itself.

The importance of results may see Rooney revert back to a more defensive approach, Derby have not been free-scoring this season and for the large part of it have relied on consistently solid defensive displays and clean sheets to push them onto the right side of the fine margins.

What can certainly be expected is a tremendous atmosphere at Pride Park, hoping to roar Derby on to a valuable points return from the six home games that remain.