UPBEAT ROONEY GETS HIS RAMS UP TO SPEED
WAYNE Rooney says Derby County’s postponed fixture at Barnsley last weekend gave him an opportunity to better integrate some of the Rams’ new arrivals.
Rooney bolstered his squad with five loan signings on transfer deadline day, with striker Lee Gregory, 32, and winger Patrick Roberts, 24, among the clutch of players to come in.
Derby suffered a 3-0 defeat at Rotherham a couple of days after the closure of the window, but subsequently had a nine-day break after their match at Barnsley was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.
And Rooney has used the unexpected interruption to his full advantage, putting in the hours on the training pitch to give the new additions a clear picture of how he wants the team to play.
“I think we can always give them messages on how we want to play, how we want to press, how we want to build up, but it’s always better to do it on the pitch,” he said.
“It just allowed us the time to be able to do that and show them on the pitch what we want, what we expect of them, which is always better than showing them a video.
“They’ve done well, they’ve taken the messages on board and they’ve trained really well, so that was the benefit of not playing a game.”
With new faces comes increased competition for places and Rooney hopes honesty will be the best policy when it comes to dealing with the disappointment of players who feel they should be involved in the first team on a more regular basis.
“Players will be disappointed through not playing, I get that,” he added.
“It’s on them to show me when they come on, when they do play or in training that they deserve to play.”