Wayne Rooney makes “realistic” admission on Derby County’s survival hopes

Derby County manager Wayne Rooney believes his side need to win this afternoon against Preston North End if they are to have any chance of remaining afloat in the Championship, speaking yesterday to the Rams’ official media team.

The East Midlands outfit come into this tie having gone winless in their previous three league games, losing against promotion candidates AFC Bournemouth and Blackburn Rovers before only managing to secure a 1-1 draw against Coventry City in their last match before the international break.

Although Tom Lawrence’s penalty rescued a much-needed point, they couldn’t go on to win all three despite hitting the post late in the game as they missed a real opportunity at Pride Park to stay in the pack.

This missed chance was punished with fellow relegation battlers Reading claiming a 1-0 victory over Blackburn, a result that has left Rooney’s men eight points adrift of the Royals with Paul Ince’s men having a game in hand over them.

Another team who have a game in hand over them are Peterborough, who secured an impressive 3-1 win away at Queens Park Rangers last time out to consign the Rams to the bottom of the table, a real blow to them after climbing above both Grant McCann’s men and Barnsley.

And Rooney isn’t underestimating the importance of this tie, saying it’s now or never if his side want to stay in the second tier against all odds as off-field turmoil continues to hamper the Pride Park outfit.

He said: “If we are going to have a realistic chance of staying up then we have to win tomorrow.

“It’s pressure for us and we have to go into it feeling confident.

“We know we are a good team and we are more than capable of winning the game so we will give everything we can and hopefully come away with