Shaun Barker is of the view that with their recent form, Derby County are eyeing the automatic promotion spots in League One and even table toppers Portsmouth.
Derby have managed to knit an eight-match unbeaten run and have managed to close the gap on John Mourinho’s Portsmouth to just six points.
Now the Rams have tough fixtures ahead as they are set to take on fifth-placed Oxford United on Friday, before facing second-placed Peterborough United on Monday.
Barker pointed out that Derby have strength and depth in their squad and believes that Paul Warne has players at his disposal who can change the game from the bench.
The ex-Rams star believes that with their recent run of form, Derby are no longer thinking of just cementing their place in the top six; rather, they are eyeing automatic promotion and even Portsmouth at the top of the table.
“We have the players; we have the impact players that you can probably bring on for the last 30 minutes and make a significant difference to this team and we have strength and depth”, Barker told Rams TV.
“I do feel we are going into this period full of confidence.
“We have picked up probably the best performance of late and we have three points with seven wins out of eight.
“All of a sudden, we are looking at not the top six and how to stay there; we are looking at the top two with what three points, six points off maybe the top team in Portsmouth.
“We have a game in hand on them and all of a sudden we are looking above us because of the moment we have taken over the last two or three months.”
Derby are due to face Portsmouth at the start of April and will hope to be in front of Pompey by then.
