Derby County assistant coach keen to continue this trend in “important” EFL Trophy clash with Notts County

Derby County play their second EFL Trophy fixture on Tuesday night as they face League Two highflying side Notts County.

The Rams won their opening fixture 2-0 and haven’t lost a game since the last international break.

Derby assistant manager Richie Barker has won this competition with Paul Warne before whilst they were both at Rotherham and so knows that it can be an important morale booster.

Barker told Rams TV: “We will be doing the same process in terms of the analysis, the training and the preparation. Obviously we’re without a couple of players through international call-ups but it’s a game we want to win.

“We’re unbeaten in this little section between the international breaks so we want to continue that and hopefully a win will put us through to the next stage. Winning is a habit and ensuring we continue on this run is important to us.”

The Rams assistant coach believes it is important to get plenty of players some game time before the break, he added: “With this little break coming up, it gives us an opportunity to go away probably having every player having 90 minutes in the last 10 days, which isn’t a bad place to be.

“We’ve got three or four coming back to training after the break so when we’re signing off in a couple of days time we don’t have to worry about having players that haven’t played.

“We know when we come back that everyone has 90 minutes in and we’re ready to go.”

The Rams will face Notts County for the first time since 1994 when the two teams were both in what was then Division One. The Magpies are currently top of the table in League Two having won seven games from 12 league matches, so Richie Barker emphasised the test that they will provide. He said: “They’ve done ever so well off the back of promotion last year but it’s also a bit of a local derby and not far for the fans to travel.

“We want to keep our good away record going and it’s a competition that, once you start getting beyond the group stages, people start to take a bit more seriously.”

One of the main headlines will be the return of David McGoldrick who was Derby’s talisman last season. He scored 20 league goals and won the player of the year award. However, the Irishman returned to his boyhood Notts County in the summer after he turned down another deal with the Rams.

Barker said it will be nice to see the 35-year-old: “He’s very popular for what he did last year. He’s a real good character, a real football person and it will be nice to see him.

“He left in the middle of the summer when nobody was about so we didn’t get a chance to say a proper goodbye so it will be good to see him again.”

Derby County vs Notts County will kick off at 7pm on Tuesday night from Meadow Lane and will be available to watch on Rams TV from 6:30pm.