Derby County assistant manager Liam Rosenior has admitted he has learnt a lot from how boss Wayne Rooney has dealt with the pressures the Rams are experiencing in the face of administration, speaking in an interview with the club's media team.

The Rams have endured a turbulent 2021, with a poor run in the latter stages of the 2020/21 campaign almost relegating the second-tier side on the final day, but managing to secure a draw against Sheffield Wednesday at Pride Park to keep them afloat by a single point.

Many outsiders believed the summer would provide the East Midlands outfit with a fresh start after narrowly escaping the drop, but a strict transfer embargo severely limited their transfer business and after only being able to recruit five players in the previous window, this has left a huge void in several areas of their team.

The turbulence didn't stop there despite a promising start to 2021/22 on the pitch, being deducted 12 points because of their entrance into administration last month and effectively cancelling out their early-season progress.

Wayne Rooney and his side have conducted themselves admirably amid this turmoil though, with the former expressing his sorrow at the situation the club have found themselves in and the fate of some of their employees whilst preparing his team well for each one of their 11 league games so far this season.

The Manchester United legend's conduct has been a huge inspiration to his assistant manager, Liam Rosenior, who spoke about the 35-year-old on the club website and said: "The manager has been outstanding, and I have tried to support him as much as I can.

"The best thing I can say about Wayne is that he has been himself; he is always genuine and authentic to himself.

"He has had a lot of experience over his career both on and off the pitch, absolutely everything, but he has remained calm, measured and in control.

"Wayne is intelligent with people. He cares about them as well and he has been able to show that side to him in such a difficult time.

"He doesn’t change when he’s doing a press conference, when he is doing a team talk or when he is addressing the staff in terms of a tough moment when the club went into administration.

"I have learnt so much from Wayne in terms of how he has dealt with the pressure of the situation we are in."

The Verdict:

If Wayne Rooney remains at the club and sees out this difficult period, he will have automatically established himself as a legend at Pride Park and rightly so, because he could have easily walked away in the summer when it wasn't looking as though he would be able to bring players in.

Despite finally being able to make additions, the most impressive part of this season is the fact he has managed to squeeze the very best out of his existing squad, which at this moment in time, is still very youthful in some areas.

He has had to deal with a few injuries at the start of the campaign, but it would be interesting to see how he would deal with further knocks to players and how he reacts if he suffers an injury crisis, because the Rams would be put into an even worse situation.

The one small positive from their lack of squad depth is that younger players have already spent time in the first team and would be as ready as they could possibly be if called upon.

The 35-year-old has already shown himself to be a good coach this season, but his authenticity has shown through above all else and should serve him well throughout the entirety of his managerial career. Credit to him for sticking with it.