Derby boss admits he's a secret Portsmouth admirer as Blues have Oxford, Barnsley and Peterborough playing catch-up

The Rams manager conceded he’s a fan of what the Blues are doing this season as he peers up at the league leaders from his side’s lowly ninth-place position.

Warne believes John Mousinho’s side are not ‘blowing teams away’ as they look to defend their one-point advantage at the top of the table against Carlisle today. However, he likes the way unbeaten Pompey are quietly going about their business and their clinical edge in front of goal.

Derby, who travel to Matt Taylor’s Shrewsbury this afternoon, have endured an inconsistent start to the 2023-24 campaign. They have won five of their 11 games to date, with their last match being a 1-1 draw at bottom-of-the table Cheltenham. The Rams were also denied victory against the Blues last month, when Colby Bishop’s last-gasp effort earned the Fratton Park side a deserved share of the points at Pride Park.

That has left Derby 10 points behind Pompey in the standings, while they’ve also scored three fewer goals and conceded three more than Mousinho’s in-form troops.

Warne told BBC Radio Derby: ‘I think we've got more in the tank.

‘I know obviously I have the joy of seeing them train every day, I'm with them all the time, and I can see how great they can be.

‘I think we've been amazing in moments in games, in control of a lot of the games, I just don't think we have been effective enough in the final third.

‘That's what wins you games, we can't rely on clean sheets or one goal, you need to really take teams to the sword if you want to be successful.

‘I think we've been pretty close to that, but we haven't consistently done that for 90 minutes, then the next 90 minutes, then the next 90 minutes.

‘In fairness, I'm not expecting the team to win 4-0 every week.

‘Portsmouth are top of the league, they haven't lost, they haven't been blowing teams away, they've just been quietly going about their business and winning games.

‘But they are outscoring us, and if you want to be in the top six, you just have to score more goals.

‘I think collectively, the team know that, whether it's from set pieces or open play, we need to get more goals into us.

‘I don't think there's a lot wrong, but without scoring goals, fundamentally your position in the league shows there is a lot wrong.’

Derby are currently two points outside the top six. Their next head-to-head with Pompey is not until April 1.