“I think we’ve got the best goalkeeper coach in the country” – Eustace
Joe Egerton - Football Journalist and owner of @DerbyCountyUpdates2
John Eustace has hailed the strength in depth of Paul Clements' goalkeeping department following the injury to number one Jacob Widell Zetterstrom.
Derby County travel to Turf Moor to face Burnley this weekend in the final game before the three-week international break in desperate need of a win after a slow start to the season.
And now one of Josh Vickers or Richard O’Donnell will have to take up the mantle in between the sticks.
The Rams have only won one of their first seven league games and sit 22nd in the Championship, whilst their hosts sit bottom of the division remaining winless since relegation from the Premier League.
With goalkeeper Zetterström picking up a knee injury keeping him out until November, Eustace spoke about the opportunity this gives for the backup goalkeepers.
“I think we’ve got the best goalkeeper coach in the country, the way the three goalkeepers have developed in the last 18 months has been sensational, Richard and Josh stepped up last year and were very good, I don’t expect anything different this year.
“You can see the way Jacob has progressed to be Sweden’s number one.”
Eustace also mentioned the importance of the upcoming three-week break regarding match fitness and tactical work.
“I think it gives us a lot of opportunity to work from some defensive principles and team structure, which we haven’t really been able to have due to all the different changes in personnel.
“This has made it difficult to become a strong defensive structure, hopefully over the next three weeks we can work on that and try to nail down a team going forward.”
Despite consecutive home defeats, Eustace praised the effort from his side and discussed taking the same performance levels into the weekend.
“I think if you look at the last two games at home, we could have easily got at least a point out of the games, but the effort of the group is there for everyone to see and the belief inside the dressing room is still very high.”
Comments