Derby County had a relatively tough start to their Championship season, with a visit to recently relegated Huddersfield Town before hosting Swansea City at Pride Park.

If you had offered new manager Phillip Cocu four points at the beginning of the season, you can imagine he’d have absolutely taken it give these were his first fixtures in English football.

But, what are the three things we have learnt from Derby’s undefeated start to the 19/20 season.

We take a look...

Recommencing, not revolution

Under Frank Lampard last season, Derby transformed. They adapted a new and progressive style of football whilst investing heavily in youth. Following his departure to Chelsea, owner Mel Morris had to employ someone of a similar vision.

Cocu seems to fit the bill entirely and has picked up from where Lampard left off. Rather than revolutionising what Lampard built, Cocu has seamlessly reinstated the attractive brand of football.

Whilst you may very well not catch Cocu starting the infamous bounce with the Derby supporters, you will see him investing in youth players and deploying a brave and exciting way of football. Particularly in their opening match with Huddersfield, Derby were successful in playing this way.

Lawrence’s big break

Since his arrival in 2017, Tom Lawrence has always been at the forefront of the Derby attack. His performances, though, have been too inconsistent to really capture the hearts of the supporters and previous managers.

He has unquestionable talent and has often shown it in glimpses over the two seasons he has spent at Pride Park. These glimpses have only acted as a reminder as to how good he can be and doesn’t be on a regular basis.

On the opening day, Lawrence had another one of these games, scoring the two goals that gave Derby a crucial three points in a 2-1 win on the first game of the Championship season. Could this give him the confidence to go and perform at that level for an entire season?

Youth prevails

Cocu clearly isn’t scared to utilise the young players he has at his disposal. Last season, Derby’s under-18 side won the Premier League, clinching a place in the UEFA Youth Cup. This season, five of the players featured in that team have already made senior appearances this season in the opening three games.

At 2-1, with 15 minutes to go at Huddersfield, Cocu could have introduced the experienced Curtis Davies or Graeme Shinnie to sure things up but instead elected to substitute on 18-year-old Jason Knight to make his senior debut.

In the EFL Cup 1-0 away win at Scunthorpe United, he handed debut’s to Louie Sibley, Morgan Whittaker and Lee Buchanan. The latter was the only difference in the game, scoring a wonderful solo goal.

It will be no surprise if Derby, and Cocu, look to continue in the same way throughout the season.