Sky Sports pundit David Prutton has been speaking on the latest edition of Sky Sports’ EFL Podcast about Derby County’s woes as they continue to battle against the threat of relegation.
Derby had a huge chance to edge closer to safety on Saturday as they held a 1-0 lead over Birmingham City, but some dreadful defending allowed Lukas Jutkiewicz to score twice to leave the Rams in trouble.
Wayne Rooney’s side sit four points clear of the relegation zone, but Rotherham still have two games in hand, and Sheffield Wednesday are also four points behind.
So, things look pretty bleak for Derby and Prutton provided his view on the Rams and Rooney.
He said: “I mean, [a] stellar, unbelievable, astronomical career that he had as a player. It’s still his first job in management, still finding his way around why this club is like it is, lots of off-field things that are still staggering on, of course, but the responsibility lies with the players.
“There’s a real fragility to them, which reflects that form.
“Lee Bowyer has been very outspoken, in ‘I really like Lukas Jutkiewicz, he will score me lots of goals in the air, this is how we’re going to play; this is how we’re going to approach the game.’ For him then to come away with two headed goals without really being marked, it’s unforgivable.
“I’m sorry, somebody has got to be somewhere near him to stop him doing that.”
Do you think Derby will be relegated?
No, we should have just enough
Yes, we are in awful form
TIF Thoughts on Derby…
The Rams are in an awful run of form and have lost five league games in a row, and their defending on Saturday did leave a lot to be desired as Jutkiewicz was basically left with two free headers.
There are two league games left for the Rams to secure the points they need to preserve their Championship status, and if they are going to do that, they will have to defend a lot better than they did.
The last game of the season is against the Owls, and you would hope that Derby don’t need a win from that match to stay up, given their current form.
In other news: ‘Give them a lift’ – Sky Sports man makes big claim on potential ‘extraordinary’ boost for Derby