DerbyMad: Two defeats in the opening two games, but there is not an awful lot to be depressed about is there?
George Burley: We haven’t won our first two games. Two tough games at that. We competed well against Leeds and deserved a draw. Elland Road is never an easy place. Wednesday night I thought we were outstanding for some of the football that we played. Our passing and our movement. We created chances but it was a case of not finishing them off. So nobody is depressed. I’m encouraged by the performances, but we want to turn them into wins. It’s certainly a tough start and Ipswich is going to be hard, but there’s a lot of quality been played in the first two games, without getting any points.
DM: How close are Derby to fulfilling the potential that they have found. Is it just a lucky bounce of the ball or what?
GB: It’s going to be an ongoing thing. We have to keep working hard. But it will come if we keep playing like we did on Wednesday.
DM: You must be pleased with the way that your new signings have performed, especially Idiakez.
GB: Idiakez was outstanding on Wednesday. He had so much of the ball. He passed it. He won tackles. He dictated the whole game. He was tremendous. And Tommy Smith – his workrate and quality was tremendous, the only thing that was lacking was goals, but I’m sure that will come. Morten Bisgaard was another one with great energy and a 100 percenter. So all three have done very well.
DM: Any injury problems ahead of the Ipswich game?
GB: No it will be the same squad. We’ve got 18 fit professionals that are in there. Mo Konjic and Jamie Vincent are still out. It’s going to be our third game in a week which is never easy, so we have got to look at it and make a decision from there.
DM: Ipswich are a good footballing side, but footballing sides are good for Derby aren’t they?
GB: It promises to be a cracking game. It was a smashing game on Wednesday against Leicester. Of course we would have loved to get the points, and I’m sure it’s going to be another tough one against Ipswich but we have got to keep believing. Certainly there are so many optimistic signs. From last season you can that things are looking stronger. We’ve got to turn the performances into wins and hopefully we can start on Saturday.