Brentford manager Thomas Frank says he is confident that Derby County will not be anywhere near the Championship relegation zone come the end of the season.

Derby currently sit second from bottom of the Championship table, two points from safety, having picked up just their second league win in 16 games this season with a 1-0 victory at Millwall on Saturday.

But despite that, Frank - whose Brentford side host the Rams at The Brentford Community Stadium on Wednesday - is confident the Pride Park club will not be facing the prospect of dropping into League One come the end of the seasons.

Giving his assessment of Derby ahead of the game, the Brentford manager was quoted by Derbyshire Live as saying: “We are facing a team that everyone, including themselves, expected to be higher in the table.

"They want to dominate on the ball and, on their day, they do it very well. We need to defend well again. When we are on the ball and, if we bring our A-game, I expect us to dominate on the ball."

Indeed, it seems that Frank is more concerned about the challenge his side face on Wednesday, than he is for Derby's second-tier status this season, as he went on to add: “I am sure they will be fine at the end of the season because they have a good squad.

"I am not worried about them, but I am worried about what kind of performance they put in on Wednesday because they are a good team.”

For their part, Brentford go into the game seventh in the Championship table, one point off the play-off places, having lost just one of their last 12 league games.

The Verdict

It does seem as though Frank might have a point here.

Derby are now three unbeaten in the league, and are starting to shows signs of the sort of fight that they are likely to need to get them out of trouble this season.

That should be encouraging to those of a Rams persuasion, and with a new manager and owner potentially on the horizon as well, it does seem as though things are in place that could change Derby's season for the better sooner rather than later.