Davies expecting difficult campaign

Derby County manager Billy Davies has warned his players not to expect their season to get any easier.

County have endured a difficult start on their return to the Barclays Premier League, picking up just a win and a draw at Pride Park in their first seven matches.

In mitigation, those fixtures have included visits to high-fliers Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City, along with a trip to face big-spending Tottenham Hotspur.

It was perhaps unsurprising that those matches yielded no points for the Rams with 16 goals against and none scored.

Relief came with a shock home win over Newcastle United earlier this month, and forthcoming games against the likes of Reading and Fulham offer the promise of more points to come.

But speaking ahead of Saturday's match with Bolton Wanderers, who stand 19th in the Barclays Premier League, just a place above County, Davies insists talk of an easier life is misplaced.

"We still are what we are - we're everybody's favourite to go down, a team that has come up two years too early," he said.

"We are playing against the Portsmouths, Boltons and Evertons, all these other teams who on paper may seem easier games but are still established Premier League sides and deserve huge respect for that.

false position

"I certainly don't see any easy fixtures coming up for Derby County. What I do see is that there isn't a Liverpool or an Arsenal or a Manchester City.

"But going into the games we certainly do feel over the course of the next few weeks we can pick up some good points."

Davies also believes that Bolton, whose manager Sammy Lee is under intense pressure to turn their fortunes around, do not represent the easy pickings some have suggested.

"On paper you do think that, but my position as a manager is not to underestimate anyone," he said.

"When I look at the quality in the Bolton side and the quality they have from back to front, they may be sitting in a very false position at the moment because they have shown over the last number of years they are capable of sustaining quality at this level.

"It will be a tough game for us but we are ready for this one and know what we need to do what to stay in this division."

But despite their early struggles, including last week's 5-0 defeat at Arsenal, Davies is convinced his team can pull of a shock and escape relegation.

"Certainly there is no problem with trying to lift anybody because we know there will be lots of ups and downs at this level," he added.

"But come the end of the season we are very confident we will pick up the necessary wins to keep us where we are."