Davies backing Earnshaw

Earnshaw: Off the mark

Derby manager Billy Davies believes Robert Earnshaw is finally settling in to life at Pride Park.

Earnshaw is still to find the target for the Rams after his £3.5million summer move from Norwich, but broke his duck for the season with the opener in Wales' 2-1 victory over San Marino on Wednesday.

But Davies saw enough in Earnshaw's display in the 1-0 defeat by Reading before the international break to have confidence his striker is getting back to his best.

Maximum support

He said: "What I saw after the Reading game was a player who was all of a sudden finding his feet. He came on and looked more like the Robert Earnshaw that we know.

"I've got to have patience with some of these players. They come to a new club, I've seen it before, you've got to be patient and supportive.

"You've got to give them time to adjust and some do it quicker than others. The one thing they do get is maximum support from me and the staff because we know they are going to come good."

Attacking

The Scotsman believes that, more than any other player in his squad, Earnshaw, 26, was hampered by the club's difficult start to the campaign.

"He's a box striker, a fox in the box," Davies said.

"Unfortunately we started off for the first seven games or so against Liverpool, Arsenal and all these other teams where getting in the 18-yard box wasn't quite as regular as we'd have liked - so we had to play a certain way.

"But what we do know is that as time goes on Robert Earnshaw will become more consistent in the side - he'll get much more opportunity, we'll become a more attacking side, a settled side, and he will start to bang in the goals."