IT’S UP TO FRANK AND HIS RAMS TO SHAKE OFF STIGMA

NOT much is certain in football, but it would appear there are two things you can always hang your hat on.

One, that Spurs will fluff the Premier League title race. Two, that Derby County will fall apart in February.

Players come. Managers go. But sure as eggs is eggs, the Rams will wobble like newborn lambs the instant a snowdrop blooms.

Since the start of the 2015-16 campaign, Derby have played 22 matches in February. They have lost nine, drawn nine, and won four.

History shows they do not fully recover. On January 26, 2016, Paul Clement’s side sat second in the Championship. They eventually finished fifth and lost in the play-off semis, though Clement was gone by then.

A year later, Derby fell from sixth in January to ninth in May, with another manager - Steve McClaren - losing his job along the way.

And last season, under Gary Rowett, the Rams plummeted from second on the first day of February to sixth at the final reckoning. Again, hopes were dashed in the playoff semi-finals.

In other words, Derby tend to lose an average of 3.3 places in the last three months of every season.

It is hard to discern a reason for this annual stumble. Different players. Different managers. Different rivals.

All of them will point to individual issues, and Frank Lampard can certainly argue that losing Mason Mount to a hamstring injury in January had a direct impact on results.

Many of his young side, currently on a run of two wins in nine, are also facing real pressure for the first time.

In a sense, though, the ‘why’ is irrelevant. Fair or not, the notion that Derby are business-end bottlers has taken root in popular culture, ensuring nerves in the stands and taunts from opponents.

Like Spurs, only reversing the trend will dispel the stigma. Lampard and his players have two months to do just that.