Derby County defender Curtis Davies has called on supporters to have a bit of perspective after their friendly loss against Stevenage earlier this week.

The Rams are preparing for life in Sky Bet League One for the first time in a few generations and it's certainly going to be interesting seeing how they get on.

They've made a number of eye-catching signings already this summer, though, and that has boosted fans' hopes that they are going to make a real fist of challenging for promotion in the coming campaign, even if their last result in their pre-season schedule did not go to plan.

Indeed, the Rams lost 1-0 to Sky Bet League Two side Stevenage and that has caused some consternation amongst the support, which is perhaps natural even in a non-competitive fixture.

Davies, though, has tried to provide a sensible pill to those worried, with him mentioning that there are still things being worked on and, indeed, the fact they beat Hertha Berlin recently as well shows how volatile pre-season can be:

The Verdict

Wise words from a player who has seen it and done it all by now in terms of pre-season football.

Ultimately, whilst results are nice, this is all about getting rhythm and fitness at this stage to start the real stuff properly in a couple of weeks and Davies and co. will feel as though they are still in decent shape despite the scoreline against Stevenage.