Wayne Rooney makes bullish Derby County remark ahead of AFC Bournemouth tie | OneFootball

Derby County boss Wayne Rooney has rubbished talk that they are the underdogs heading into tomorrow afternoon’s away tie at automatic promotion contenders AFC Bournemouth, speaking confidently to his side’s media team ahead of this clash.

The Rams are currently five points adrift of safety, though fellow relegation battlers Reading and Barnsley both have games in hand over Rooney’s men, something both sides will be hoping to capitalise on.

After three consecutive losses recently, Derby looked all but relegated, but a victory over the Tykes last weekend has given them a real chance of getting back into the race with ten league games still left for them to make up the deficit.

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Bournemouth, on the other hand, haven’t experienced any real off-field turbulence and have richly benefitted from a formidable start to the 2021/22 campaign, faltering at times since then but are still on course to win promotion back to the Premier League at the second time of asking.

Nonetheless, they won’t be overly confident after winning just one point from a possible four against Preston North End and Peterborough United, with their midweek draw against the latter particularly disappointing considering Grant McCann’s side’s form and the fact they had the home advantage at their disposal.

They return to the Vitality Stadium once more – and the visitors’ boss believes his side have a great opportunity of winning all three points in this one.

He said: “It’s an opportunity to go and show what a good team we are against one of the top teams in the division so we are ready and prepared and will do everything we can to get three points.

“I don’t see us as underdogs if I’m being honest as I think the way we set up and the way we play, it’s very difficult for teams to play against.

“We have had the odd couple of results this season where we haven’t been in the game so I’m confident we can go and get three points against Bournemouth.”

The Verdict:

Considering the Cherries’ current wobbles, you could even say Derby are the favourites in this tie and it would be no surprise at all to see them come out on top, even with their recent consecutive losses.

Their performance against Poya Asbaghi’s men last weekend will give them real hope and although the Tykes are down at the bottom, they were in a good vein of form going into that tie and the performance from the Rams was something to be proud of.

The first goal in particular was a moment to savour and with Tom Lawrence back, not just as a leader but also as a real attacking force, they will probably believe they have the firepower up top to cause the Cherries’ defence real problems.

Bournemouth also have firepower at their disposal though, so how the two defences perform may end up proving to be the difference in this game with both sides playing a good brand of football.

Rooney will be hoping his confidence can be passed onto his players because they have a real chance of winning three points if they believe in themselves – and they have certainly shown no shortage of that and fighting spirit this term.