Derby County boss Frank Lampard praises Wigan Athletic counterpart Paul Cook

Cook enjoyed has won the League Two title with both Chesterfield and Portsmouth and Wigan to promotion from League One at the first time of asking.

Lampard told RamsTV: “They have a good home record, have good players and a very good manager.

“I am really impressed with their story over the last couple of years, to bounce back like they did to win the league and play good football.

“They are a very energetic team which makes them very difficult to beat and they’ve had some good results this year so it will be a tough game for us.

“Paul Cook has had a good managerial career so far and I think he will go onwards because not only is he charismatic, I like him without knowing him. I like the way he shows himself and I like the way he sets his teams up so it will be difficult for us.”

Since last Saturday’s 2-1 victory over Swansea City last week, Lampard has had a whole week to prepare his side for Saturday’s game.

“I think the players needed a bit of rest because we had three games in a week last week which was taxing on the players both mentally and physically,” he said.

“This week has given us an opportunity to rest and get some training into them so we have used both of those and we go into the game into good shape. It’s up to the players now to perform.”