Frank Lampard wants his Derby side to take inspiration from Liverpool and Tottenham’s comeback victories ahead of their own key dates in the coming week.
County face Leeds in the first leg of their Championship play-off semi-final on Saturday, having twice been well beaten by United in the regular season.
Leeds finished three places ahead of the Rams as a result, but Lampard can see reason for optimism.
When asked whether his side could draw encouragement from the week’s Champions League matches, the ex-England midfielder said: “Everybody in football should take inspiration from what Liverpool and Tottenham have done in the last two days.
“I think we all would have watched those games and I think it’s a beautiful thing when you see not just talent, but character, win games.
“I’ve always loved that, that’s why I was so proud of the players at West Brom last week because of the moment of character when it went to 1-1 to go on and win the game.
“Seeing top players and top teams perform with that should certainly make players understand that this tie won’t be over until the 180th minute or more if there’s extra time and we have to fight all the way.”
Derby go into the game in the better form, having lost just once in their last 12 matches and unbeaten in seven at Pride Park while Marcelo Bielsa’s side have lost three of their last four games.
Despite the recent form, Lampard remained cautious heading into the tie, adding: “We’ve got to get through two games against Leeds who were the best team in the league for a period of time.”
On preparing his players as a manager, he said: “I think emotionally you do have to make sure that you make the players aware of the extra intensity of build-up, fans and atmosphere in both stadiums.
“You want to be successful, you want to have a bit of the feeling that Mauricio Pochettino had, that’s what it is and that’s why I love seeing the celebrations.
“I can certainly understand how they (Spurs and Liverpool) felt on the pitch at the end of the game and we’ve still got a mountain to climb to get that there.”
