Derby County defender Richard Keogh has warned his team-mates about their upcoming fixture against Middlesbrough.
Middlesbrough are behind table-toppers Leeds United only on goal difference in the Championship and have the best defensive record in the league.
Tony Pulis’ side have conceded a meagre seven goals in 14 league games and have managed to keep nine clean sheets so far in the Championship.
Speaking ahead of Derby’s clash against Boro, Keogh highlighted the opposition side’s defensive consistency and their ability to grind out results with their style.
Keogh told RamsTV: “I have worked with Tony [Pulis] before when I was a young lad coming through at Stoke so I know how his teams like to play and what he is like as a manager and a person.
“Middlesbrough are a good team, they have good quality in there and they don’t like conceding too many goals with the way they play so it’s going to be a big challenge for us."
Keogh also spoke about the congested fixture list, but admitted that the team will not be changing their style and will have to deal with the shortened recovery time.
“We are going to go out there and do the things that have got us the last two results especially.
"We know it’s going to be a tough because it’s a quick turnaround and the schedule has not been kind to us but it’s the way it falls sometimes.
“We will recover well and get ourselves up for it.
"These are the games that you want to play in and it’s against a team that are around the top of the league again so let’s go out there and play our way and see how we get on”, Keogh said.
After a three-game winless run in the Championship, Derby have won back to back games against Sheffield United and West Brom.
The manner in which they beat West Brom 4-1 will give them confidence heading into the game against Middlesbrough this Saturday.
