"John Eustace knew" - Exclusive: Don Goodman makes League One claim about Derby County | OneFootball

Don Goodman has shared his thoughts on Derby County's survival chances.

Derby County are in real danger of suffering an immediate return to League One as they find themselves in a precarious position towards the bottom of the Championship.

The Rams are currently four points adrift of safety as things stand ahead of their game against an in-form Coventry City side in midweek, so they will be hoping that they can build on their win over Blackburn Rovers on Saturday and close the gap on the teams above them.

John Eustace picked up his first victory since being appointed as Paul Warne's replacement at Pride Park against his former employers over the weekend, which ended Derby's dismal run of form and restored belief that they can preserve their second tier status between now and the end of the season.

Don Goodman fires "tall order" warning to Derby

Sky Sports pundit, Don Goodman, spoke exclusively to Football League World about Derby's survival prospects, and he stressed that they must improve their record against sides who are also in the bottom half of the table if they are going to stand a chance of staying up.

"I think John Eustace knew when he was taking the Derby County job on that there was a real, genuine possibility that he may be a League One manager next season," Goodman said.

"He took it on because of the long-term vision of the club. It was a huge win at home against Blackburn at the weekend which has given them something positive, because prior to that they had not won in 12 games, losing 10 and drawing two while only scoring four goals.

"I think it is going to take more than a victory against Blackburn to convince me that they are definitely going to survive.

"They have got a huge game against Coventry and then an even bigger game against Plymouth in the next two games. They have got some decent-looking fixtures on paper against seven teams in the bottom half, but the trouble is they have only won three games, all at home, against teams in the bottom half, and four of these upcoming games are away from home.

"It is a tall order. I certainly would not be putting my mortgage on it that Derby will survive."

Derby will hope Eustace can repeat Blackburn feat

Eustace will not be completely unfamiliar with the situation that he finds himself in at Derby, because he was also tasked with keeping a club in the Championship when he joined Blackburn in February last year.

Admittedly, the Rams are in a less favourable position than Rovers were at the time of Eustace's appointment last season, but they will hope that he can use his experience to repeat the feat of avoiding relegation to League One.

As Goodman alluded to, Derby will have a number of opportunities to take points off sides that are also in the bottom half of the table between now and the end of the season, so if they can gather some momentum off the back of their vital win against Blackburn, then they will have every chance of beating the drop.