Town boss Roy Keane says he’s not getting carried away by the Blues’ three successive wins, just as he wasn’t panicking when his side lost three on the trot. The Carling Cup defeat of Northampton has been followed by league victories over Millwall and Sheffield United which have taken Town to sixth in the Championship.
Keane said: "A week or two ago everyone was panicking and just as you don’t panic when you lose, you don’t get carried away when you win.
"A few weeks ago when we lost three on the spin I was saying we hadn’t played particularly badly, but you need a bit of luck. Tamás has got the first goal and then it was a good finish from Gareth and we’ll take it. It was a hard won three points.
"On another day we could have lost. I think we probably played a lot better at Sheffield United last year when we had a number of opportunities and at 3-1 up we were coasting.
"But I think when you come to Sheffield United you can never relax. I think it was good from their point of view that their players never stopped going, credit to them for that. They never let their heads dropped."
The Blues boss felt his side did well from corners and freekicks: "Damien had a free header in the first half, but then again we were under pressure in the second half from Sheffield United’s set pieces.
"I think the second goal came from a second ball in after a corner, so I think our set plays weren’t bad. You can talk all day about movement and delivery, but you’ve got to have that desire to get in there and Gareth had that. I think he scored here from a corner here last year.
"It’s an area where we’re improving slightly. We had some good chances last week at home to Millwall, two or three free headers from six or seven yards out when the ball’s gone over the bar.”
Keane was pleased with the way his defenders coped, particularly in the later stages of the game: "The defence were under a lot of pressure and towards the end we gave them one or two half chances when we gave the ball cheaply, like when the boy was pulled down on the edge of the box.
"The back four were under a lot of pressure and they did a decent job, which is what they’re paid to do.”
Meanwhile, Derby County will be without central defender Dean Leacock when they visit Portman Road on Tuesday as the former Fulham man is suspended having reached five bookings. Fellow defenders Russell Anderson (groin) and Jake Buxton (back) are also out.
Better news for the Rams is that another defender Miles Addison is back in the squad after 10 months out with a foot injury, although he is unlikely to start.
Frontmen Alberto Bueno and Luke Moore - reportedly a player targeted by the Blues before he joined Derby on loan from West Brom - are also unavailable due to ankle and hamstring injuries respectively.