Eustace says “words are cheap” ahead of Bolton clash

It’s matchday at Pride Park again, where to the shock of some, John Eustace remains in the dugout. But the Rams head coach is “not surprised” despite going through a “really testing period”.

Questions about his future continue to swirl and will surely only intensify if Bolton leave Derby victorious. But the 47-year-old has not had any conversations with anyone at the club about his position. Furthermore, Eustace has had no indication that the game is ‘must-win’.

“Well, I didn't realise there was any conversations about it,” he said, when BBC Radio Derby presented their understanding that talks about the Derby boss’ future had taken place on Wednesday. 

“I think tomorrow night is an opportunity to show the fans who we've let down in the last two games that we have got that fight and that passion and that pride to wear the Derby County shirt and that's what it's all about for me.”

That pride is why Eustace is “hurting like everyone else”, but he remains confident that his players are still behind him and has not considered walking away. He said: “No, definitely not. Listen, this is a football club that I've come to to help build and to help get back into the Premier League. For the first 15-16 months we were on track with that, there's been a setback for sure and now we've got to find out a way to make sure that we get enough points firstly to get to 50 points to stay in the league and then let's reassess from there.”

Whatever happens tonight, questions surrounding the wider running of the club are unlikely to go away. Asked whether the club was set up for success, Eustace said: “Yes, of course it is. If you look at the amount of injuries that the club have had over the first third of the season, I don't think it could have happened any other way.”

But he did concede that “maybe” the failed takeover had exposed soft foundations, and that “we haven’t replaced that properly” in reference to “36 goal contributions” the attacking players who are missing, whether through injury or their loans expiring at the end of last season.

And Derby have suffered another blow on that front. With Sam Szmodics set to be sidelined for six weeks having been playing through a knee injury. Eustace explained: “We lose Sammie Szmodics today for six weeks, he's got to have knee surgery. To lose a player of [his] quality, although he's been playing probably three-quarters fit anyway, is a huge loss to us.”

Meanwhile David Ozoh, Ryan Hedges and Joe Ward, who all missed Tuesday night’s 4-0 defeat to Norwich will be absent again. “Yeah, they'll still be struggling, unfortunately” Eustace said. But with Matt Clarke and Patrick Agyemang having trained with the group on Thursday, he was hopeful of some returns before long. “Hopefully, there'll be a couple just after the international break,” he added.

So yes, Eustace says words are cheap. But they are all he can offer in a press conference. Tonight we will see whether his side can turn things around on the pitch.

Bolton

After being promoted via the play-offs, Steven Schumacher’s side have made a solid start to their first second tier campaign in seven years. After 14 games they find themselves 17^th on as many points. After letting a lead slip to fall to a late 3-2 defeat at home to Bristol City last weekend, they responded in midweek by securing a 1-0 win at Charlton.

Their form has been mixed with a 3-1 win at Wolves and a thrilling 4-3 victory over Norwich standing out. While they rank joint-fifth for the most clean sheets in the division this season, they have the joint-third worst defensive record owning to high-scoring games such as the one versus the Canaries, or when they shipped five at home to Middlesbrough.

It may be hard to know which Bolton will turn up at the back, but going forward, they want to transition quickly, with heavy use of their overlapping full backs in a 4-2-3-1. Always looking to press, Schumacher’s side have had their best results with less possession.

Eustace has never faced Bolton as a manager and has only coached against Schumacher once. His Birmingham side beat the Bolton boss’ Plymouth side 2-1 in 2022 thanks to a 95^th minute winner from Jay Stansfield.

Of Bolton, Eustace said: “They're a really good team. I've watched the last four or five games. Steven [Schumacher] plays a fantastic style of football there. They've got a group there which has obviously been together a long time, been successful and they've grown together.

“It'll be a really difficult night for us, but it's a night that we're really, really looking forward to. It's a night that again we've got to show that togetherness and the most important, that pride of wearing the Derby County shirt.”