Derby County take on Bolton Wanderers at Pride Park on Friday in a game that looks crucial to the future of John Eustace

The glare of the press conference spotlight is always bright on a Derby County manager - but it’s more intense than ever on John Eustace.

In a gloomy room at the Rams’ Moor Farm training ground on Thursday, Eustace came out to speak with the assembled press, probably aware that his position is hanging by a thread.

After leading Derby to an eighth-placed finish last season, things have rapidly gone down at Pride Park after a run of just one win from their opening 14 games.

Eustace is set to take charge of Friday evening’s clash with Bolton Wanderers at home. Step into the Derby County press conference ahead of that game.

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‘Not surprised at staying’

After claims that talks had been held regarding Eustace’s position ahead of Friday’s game, Thursday’s press conference gave the Derby boss his first chance to talk publicly.

And it was no surprise to any members of the media - nor Eustace himself - that one of the first questions he was faced with was about his position.

There was visible surprise on his face when Eustace was probed about those talks. He said: “I didn’t realise there was any conversations about it so obviously I wasn’t [part of them].”

After confirming that he had not played an active role in talks over his role and that he was not told that Friday’s game against Bolton was a must-win, Eustace could afford himself a wry smile as he discussed his relationship with David Clowes.

Eustace said: “No, I'm not surprised because I work for a fantastic owner and he's got a lot of faith in me and it's an opportunity now to get three points on Friday night. And you know, it's an opportunity now to put the pride back into Derby County."

Speaking later in the press conference, he added: “I speak to David most days and anything I speak to David about is very confidential.

“David’s very happy with the progress that we made over the last 16 months, 17 months. He understands the situation you're in, no one is happy about it. Of course we’re not.”

Derby’s internal issues

Despite Eustace’s position being in jeopardy, he was far from the only one with the spotlight on him ahead of the clash against Bolton.

In what was one of the more difficult questions to answer, Eustace was asked if the club’s downfall had exposed serious problems and soft foundations at Pride Park.

And there was palpable surprise in the room when he chose to answer. He added: “Might be but again about going through difficult periods, and this is obviously a really testing period of real difficult moment for sure

“As I've said previously there's lots of reasons from a football point of view why the season hasn't been as successful as it could be.”

Recruitment was also on the agenda once more, with Eustace smiling at a question of whether the Rams have been able to get the right players through the door.

He added: “I think that's a conversation you have to have with them guys [the recruitment team]. Ultimately, the players that we've recruited and the players that we've got in the building.

“I spoke earlier in the week that there's 36 goal contributions out of the team at the moment through injuries and through players that we've lost, we haven't replaced that properly, so again, it's always very, very difficult if you don't do that.

“But that's a responsibility now to the players who are here for me to coach them properly and get them in the positions to get results and to create more opportunities for them, to create and score."

Players still behind Eustace

Despite the problems stacked on top of him when it comes to Derby’s woeful form - and a growing injury list that now includes Sammie Szmodics - Eustace was still keen to cut a staunch and determined figure.

The Derby boss grew more and more animated when discussing how poor the Rams’ starts had been against both Millwall and Norwich over the past week but it appears that he is still of the opinion that he has the support of the dressing room.

Asked if he was still confident in the players at his disposal, he said: “Yeah, of course. I work with them every day and their attitude has been excellent since I've been here.

“[They’re] a fantastic group to work with obviously. With the results being how they have been, I will still work with them every day and they're still very much behind each other, most importantly, and certainly behind me.”