Warne backing Derby's 'old bones' to seal promotion

Paul Warne has won 51 of his 98 games in charge of Derby

Derby County manager Paul Warne is banking on the "crooked old bones" in the dressing room to finish the job and achieve promotion back to the Championship.

The Rams need a point at home to bottom-placed Carlisle United on Saturday (12:30 BST) to return to the second tier after two seasons in League One.

Derby have an experienced squad with 12 players aged 30 and over, and Warne believes that has played a huge part in getting them into this position.

“It has its advantages and disadvantages, but we’ve got the oldest team in this league,” he said.

“With that you get crooked old bones, but you also get leadership and a bit of levelheadedness in the dressing room.

“I don’t go into this one thinking the lads are fearful or overthinking it, or think it’s done.”

Even if Derby were to lose to the Cumbrians at a sold-out Pride Park, nearest challengers Bolton Wanderers have to win at Peterborough United and cause a four-goal swing in goal difference.

While the Rams are in a very strong position to grab that second spot behind champions Portsmouth, Warne has been predicting for weeks that the promotion push would go down to the final day.

However, it is a far cry from a sticky period in the autumn, when the loss to Stevenage on 28 October was the Rams’ fifth of the season and left them languishing in ninth place.

A section of the away support at Lamex Stadium called for Warne’s head, but with the support of owner David Clowes, the former Rotherham United boss oversaw an upturn in form.

'Not complicated, but confidence-based'

Defeat by Stevenage on 28 October left Derby ninth in League One

However, the 50-year-old does not look on that October afternoon as a' sliding-doors' moment in his Pride Park tenure.

He says there was no clear-the-air meeting with the squad and describes as "poomph" the idea that the players started pulling extra hard for him.

“The start of the season didn’t go as well as we would have liked," he told BBC Radio Derby.

"We didn’t get the start we wanted and a few of our signings didn’t hit the ground running as well as we would have thought.

“The performance at Stevenage was typical League One. You can’t just have control of the ball and nothing else. You have to roll your sleeves up and win your battles.

“We didn’t have any meeting after that game, different to any other.

“Football isn’t a complicated game, but it is confidence-based. You can bounce back and win games.

“We got injured players back, we got form, you get confidence and you get it rolling.”

'David great with me after Stevenage'

David Clowes took over ownership of Derby in the summer of 2022

Warne was brought to Derby in September 2022 by the Rams’ new owner Clowes, a lifelong supporter of the club.

Having guided Rotherham to three promotions to League One, Warne was given the same remit in the East Midlands.

Derby missed out on a play-off spot on the final day of last season, but are now in a strong position to seal automatic promotion - and Warne says he is keen to repay the support he has had from his chairman.

“I remember how great David was with me after the Stevenage game,” he said. “I remember moments like that.

“I would be really pleased for him because I know how much the club means to him.

“That has filtered into us – the importance of this club and this great city – and it would be nice to thank him.

“If I get his team to where he wants it to be, that would please us the most as a staff.”