Curtis Davies is confident that his Derby County side will avoid relegation to League One this season.

The Rams fell to their fourth successive league defeat on Tuesday night, losing 3-0 to Preston North End at Deepdale.

Their fate is no longer in their hands, either, with Rotherham United heading into Wednesday night's clash with Middlesbrough sitting four points adrift of safety with three games in hand on the Rams.

But despite taking the lead on three minutes through Angus McDonald, they were left a mountain to climb when Matt Crooks was dismissed on 18 minutes.

Boro subsequently turned the game on its head, leaving the New York Stadium with all three points courtesy of goals from George Saville and Chuba Akpom.

Rotherham do still sit four points adrift of safety with two games in hand, but those fixtures come against promotion hopefuls Barnsley and Brentford.

Speaking to EFL on Quest, Davies, who is currently out injured with an Achilles problem, said: "Yes we have the points on the board, but Rotherham have two in hand, against two teams in the playoffs Barnsley and Brentford. All we can do is go and get the job done in Birmingham”

"We need to make sure we give the best account for ourselves rather than waiting for them to fall."

The Verdict

I have a feeling Derby will escape the drop.

Rotherham seem to be getting so many lifelines, but are failing to capitalise and build any real momentum whatsoever.

If you can't win your home games against winnable teams in Middlesbrough who have nothing to play for, it doesn't stand you in good stead.

It just shows that you would rather have the points than games in hand at this stage of the season, no matter how poor Derby have been of late.