Derby County specialist first-team coach Liam Rosenior has defended goalkeeper Kelle Roos and offered him his backing, ahead of the Rams' home game against Wigan Athletic on Wednesday night.

Philip Cocu's side were comfortably beaten 3-0 at Charlton Athletic on Saturday, with the Rams putting in a poor performance at both ends of the pitch to see their five-match unbeaten run in the Championship brought to an end by Charlton at the Valley.

Roos has managed to remain the club's number one goalkeeper so far this season under Cocu, having got himself into the side during the second half of last season ahead of Scot Carson as the Rams managed to force their way into the play-offs.

However, despite putting in some impressive performances at times, the 27-year-old has been subject to some criticism from Derby supporters for his lack of ability to command his box at times, which was evidenced for Charlton's second goal against the Rams on Saturday, where Roos could not come for a corner after being blocked off and the hosts subsequently scored a vital second goal.

Speaking to Derby County's official website ahead of the game against Wigan, via the Derby Telegraph, Rosenior offered his backing to Roos, saying "Part of being a footballer is not taking that criticism to heart. Part of being a footballer is being able to perform under pressure.

"We are at a massive football club with big expectations of being in the Premier League. If the team is not performing, players are going to come in for criticism.

"Do I think it (the criticism of Roos) is fair? No.

"If I look at Kelle's performance on Saturday, he made an outstanding save at 1-0.

"I think he had no chance on the set play (for the second goal), it was a clever block from their player on him."

The Verdict

Rosenior is as you would expect keen to offer backing to Roos following the defeat at Charlton at the weekend, but there have been some understandable questions about the 27-year-old's ability to command his penalty area over the last few weeks.

Roos has managed to establish himself as the club's number one keeper, and he has earnt that through his performances at times, with his shot stopping ability a key asset for Cocu's side, but the 27-year-old needs to start showing a little more maturity now and the ability to restore calmness to Derby's defence when they are being put under pressure.

When you go away from home in the Championship, you sometimes need your keeper to come out and take a cross to relive spells of pressure and allow the team to push up the pitch, but on Saturday Roos was unable to command his box well enough for the second goal which put the game beyond Derby - and that is something he needs to show he can improve.