Derby County told to fix 'real worry' at Pride Park | OneFootball

Derby County have the fifth-worst home record in the Championship this season and FLW's Fan Pundit believes improvements are needed.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

After an impressive, yet tense, 1-0 victory over Middlesbrough on New Year's Day, Derby County supporters were hoping to see an improvement from their team on Sunday afternoon when Wrexham paid a visit to Pride Park.

However, just 25 minutes into the contest in DE24, Nathan Broadhead picked out Sam Smith with a textbook cross with the Red Dragons' striker able to fire past Jacob Widell Zetterstrom to hand the visitors the lead.

It was a moment greeted by boos from some of those inside the stadium, but Derby pressed on and found an equaliser through Ben Brereton Diaz just nine minutes later - the Chilean international's second goal for the Rams this season and his second against Wrexham.

Yet, John Eustace's side were unable to find the winner, and it was in fact the away side who took all three points in the East Midlands as Matty James picked out the top corner with a sensational strike in the second-half, as the home support aired their frustrations. Now, there may be some questions about Eustace's playing style.

John Eustace told to change Derby County's playing style at home

It's been an incredibly frustrating season for Derby at Pride Park. Only four other sides have picked up fewer points on their own patch than the East Midlands outfit, with just four of their nine wins this season coming at home.

While the Rams remain in 12th in the Championship, some supporters are struggling to find many positives with the team's playing style and Football League World has asked their Derby Fan Pundit, Shaun Woodward, if there will be any pressure on Eustace in the next few weeks.

He said: "Eustace definitely has credit in the bank. I think it would take a lot more for fans to turn on him. I think there is a bit of discontent at the moment, especially at home because of the form we're showing at Pride Park. It’s certainly not a fortress.

"We're set up as if we're the away team, which is why our away form is so much better than our home form. I think we're trying to soak up pressure and create on the counter, which suits away from home when you haven't got as much of a ball. I think when the onus is on us, with a bit more possession. We struggle to break teams down.

"We don't have those ball players or those players that can play between the lines. We're missing the likes of Ozoh massively. We're missing the presence of Morris up top to make the ball stick."

Shaun continued: "So, the home form is a real worry and there are fans that are starting to maybe not turn on Eustace. That’s maybe the wrong word, but they're disappointed with the way we're playing. It's not entertaining. It's not exciting. It's not free flowing. That's all well and good when you're starting to pick up points. You can kind of stomach that, but when you're losing games and you're not playing well, then it is tough. It's tough to watch.

"But I do believe Eustace has got a lot of credit in the bank. It is a worry at the moment. We're comfortably above the bottom three, but I think another three or four weeks of the way things have been going of late, then we could start looking over our shoulder again.

"I don't want to be in that nervy period in February and March like we were last season. But I do think that the key now is getting players back fit and bringing in a couple of players to support those that are out there at the moment because we are struggling, especially in the centre of defence and through the spine of the team.

"I think we're really struggling and reinforcements are definitely needed to keep us comfortably in that mid-table, which would be a solid season. I think we got a bit ahead of ourselves at times this year with those five wins in a row. We kind of started to believe play-offs were a possibility, but losing Morris, Ozoh, Johnston, Beck, we really have struggled.

"So, I think if we can stay mid-table without looking over our shoulder, I think it's a good season. We just need to bring in some players that can start to get us on the ball and start to make us a bit more entertaining."

John Eustace must change Derby County's formation at home

Ever since Carlton Morris' injury against Watford in November, Derby have played in a 5-2-3 formation, with Rhian Brewster, Patrick Agyemang and Ben Brereton Diaz currently operating as the front three.

However, just like last season, there has been a lack of goal threat from open play and, instead, the Rams are relying on their set-piece excellence to create chances. Add into this the lack of creativity from a two-player midfield, and the problem becomes even greater and a formation change in home games is much-needed.

Eustace should resort to a 4-3-3, with Lewis Travis operating in the holding midfield role, which would allow Bobby Clark to focus more on the attacking side of his game, while new signing Oscar Fraulo will also be a key operative for the Championship's 12th-place side.

Losing a centre-back is a change that needs to happen sooner rather than later, with Derby often struggling to work their way out of defence without playing the ball long and this will be a headache that will be at the forefront of their head coach's mind ahead of the Rams' FA Cup tie against Leeds United on Sunday.