John Eustace focused on Derby’s lofty ambitions over Blackburn Rovers reunion

On his arrival at Derby three weeks ago, Eustace admitted he was taking a “huge risk” by parachuting down the division to take charge of a club where he retired as a player a decade earlier.

When asked about what it feels like facing Blackburn so soon after his departure, Eustace replied by saying his “focus” will be on Derby while acknowledging that he had a “fantastic time” at Ewood Park in his year in charge there.

But in the context of the Rams’ fight for survival, he sees Saturday’s game at Pride Park (15:00 GMT) as simply being his side’s next “big challenge”.

“The most important this is that we take each game as it comes,” he said. “You don’t get carried away with the highs or the lows, you don’t start looking at where you are in the league, you just concentrate on the next game.”

Where they are in the league is seven points from safety with 11 matches remaining, having lost 10 in a 12-match winless league run dating back to December.

Asked if the job he has taken on has turned out to be harder than anticipated, Eustace said: “It’s part of the job, part of being a football manager. It’s not easy.

“I was under no illusions coming here that it was going to be a difficult task and a difficult job, but again its about the bigger picture for me,” he continued, while talking to BBC East Midlands Today.

“It’s not about the next two months, it’s about the next three or four years and that’s why I have come to this fantastic football club and I want to build it and get it back to where it should be.”