OWEN Coyle has promised Blackburn Rovers will take the game to surprise strugglers Derby County in an effort to set themselves up for what he believes will be a crucial home run.

Rovers head to the iPro Stadium tomorrow to take on an expensively assembled Rams team who have yet to score in or win any of their first four home matches of the Championship season.

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Coyle’s side then welcome Sheffield Wednesday to Ewood Park on Tuesday before they travel to Birmingham City on Saturday week for their final game before the international break.

Rovers will resume their Championship campaign against Ipswich Town on October 15 which will be the first in a sequence of seven home matches out of 11 in the lead up to Christmas.

And their manager Coyle said: “When we came out of the last international break we were always going to be charged with a difficult period in respect of that we have five of our seven games away from home.

“The important thing within this period is to take points. We’ve done that but we should have taken more. QPR away we drew when we should have won, Leeds United away we certainly should have taken something from the game, and then the win over Rotherham United last week.

“What we need to do now is go to Derby, host Sheffield Wednesday, and then go to Birmingham City and gather points.

“That would set us up because after the international break we’ve got seven out of 11 at home in the next period.

“It’s important to build going into that so we are ready to kick on and go from there. I think we’re capable of that.”

Rovers’ first league win of the season moved them off the bottom and within one point of a Derby team who have netted just one goal in their last five winless Championship matches.

But Coyle insists they are a better side than their lowly position suggests.

He said: “We know the quality that Derby have. They are one of the teams who have invested in their squad year after year.

“There’s no doubt that Derby’s expectations are to get to the Premier League so people will perceive that they have had a relatively slow start. But that’s what the Championship can do.

“We have to bring the same level of play we did against Rotherham last week. We’re going to be positive and we’ll set out a team that is going to try and win a tough game.

“We’ll look to try and play on the front foot and make sure we’re ready to go toe to toe with Derby.

“I think there was a statistic last week that said Championship clubs paid out £200m in the summer on transfer fees. You can work the maths if you average that out.

“We haven’t (spent). But we know we have got good players to our club under our own steam and now it’s about making sure we get the best out of them.

“And if we do that it will win you points in the Championship and it will take you where you want to be.”