Paul Warne: Derby County boss says Rams well placed at 'crazy stage' of the season
- Published
Derby County have won 14 and lost just four of the 27 games that Paul Warne has been in charge of so far
Derby County Paul Warne says they are in the ideal place to "attack" the "crazy stage" of the League One season in their bid for automatic promotion.
A 15-game unbeaten league run has lifted Derby to fourth in the table and to within eight points of the top two.
Four league wins in January also earned Warne the League One manager of the month award.
"We are in a good position and have set ourselves as well as we could," Warne told BBC East Midlands Today.
"We are getting to the crazy stage now where the football becomes a little more random because there are teams chasing promotion who have to win - they have to leave everything out there.
"Then you have teams fearful of relegation who have to win.
"If you can get through December and January pretty injury free, which fortunately for us we have, you have the last three months to sort of enjoy if you attack it."
Warne left Championship club Rotherham to take the helm of the rebuilding Rams - replacing interim boss Liam Rosenior - in September.
The 49-year-old's three previous seasons managing in England's third division all ended with him taking the Millers to the Championship - earning him the moniker of a 'promotion guru'.
Warne says he "would have taken" the position Derby are in now when he first took over the club - even though both Sheffield Wednesday and Plymouth are eight points ahead of them. Third-placed Ipswich are also two points above the Rams, but have played a game more than Derby.
"Unfortunately for us, as good a form as we are in, there are there other teams in unbelievable form," Warne said.
"There are still teams outside the play-offs, like Charlton and Portsmouth that will start picking up wins again.
"Not only are you trying to grab the people at the top, you are also aware people are breathing.
"It's a constant pressure to win. But you are not in sport to accept defeat, you are in it to win all the time and that's what we are trying to do."
Warne says the manager of the month award marks Derby's surge to become a major promotion contender and is "an award for the whole football club."
"It's credit to the lads and all the staff and everyone here trying get everything we can out of the players," he told BBC Radio Derby.
"The lads have been excellent. We have put ourselves in a really good position."