Steve McClaren: Derby County standards have dropped

Steve McClaren's side have won 13 and lost 12 of their 34 Championship games this season

Manager Steve McClaren says Derby County's standards have dropped and he has demanded an immediate response.

The Rams have picked up just two points during a six-game winless run and are 11th in the table, 10 points adrift of the Championship play-off places.

Derby, who were fifth after beating QPR on 14 December, have not scored in their past three matches.

"We have two home games and we need a reaction," McClaren told BBC Radio Derby after defeat at Blackburn Rovers.

"We have challenged the players to give us a reaction."

McClaren's side face Barnsley at Pride Park on Saturday and Preston North End on Tuesday, 7 March.

The former England boss wants a return to the form which saw them climb from fifth from bottom when he took over following the 1-1 draw with Reading on 1 October.

The 3-0 away win over struggling Ipswich Town on 31 January, four days after drawing with Leicester in the FA Cup, was their last victory.

"These are home games that we have to win," McClaren said.

"We are not performing individually and collectively the way that we did up until the Leicester replay. Has that taken too much out of us? I don't know.

"We are not getting the rub of the green and we were doing that before. We are not scoring the first goal and we are not scoring goals. We have to start again on Saturday."

Blackburn's 1-0 victory on Tuesday was just their eighth in the league this season, but they remain in the relegation zone.

"It's another frustrating game we shouldn't have lost," McClaren added. "We've had 18 attempts on goal and only two on target. We should be coming here and keeping a clean sheet.

"When we play teams we should be beating, we have to beat them."