Under-pressure Derby County head coach John Eustace has said he is "not surprised" to still be in charge of the Rams despite their dismal run of results.

The East Midlands club are second from bottom in the Championship and winless in 10 games, having conceded four goals in three of their past five matches.

And while there were boos and taunts directed at Eustace during Tuesday's 4-0 home defeat by Norwich City, the 46-year-old has kept his job and will be at the helm when Bolton Wanderers visit Pride Park on Friday night (20:00 GMT).

BBC Radio Derby understands talks were held at the club on Wednesday around Eustace's future, and when that was put to the former Blackburn Rovers and Birmingham City boss he replied: "I didn't realise there were any conversations about it."

Eustace went on to say that nothing has been said to him by the club's hierarchy surrounding his position and answered with a firm "no" when asked if there has been any indication that the match against Bolton is a must win.

With Derby languishing in the relegation spots and supporters increasingly voicing their dissatisfaction, Eustace was pressed about how tenable his job has become.

The former Rams midfielder has been in charge for 21 months and can boast of guiding the club to an unlikely relegation escape on his arrival in February 2025 before overseeing their play-off near miss last season – having fallen short of a top-six finish on the final day of the campaign.

It was put to him that there is an element of "surprise" he remains at Pride Park after picking up just one win in 14 league games this season, but Eustace responded: "I'm not surprised.

"I work for a fantastic owner [David Clowes], and he has a lot of faith in me.

"It's an opportunity now to get three points on Friday night and it's an opportunity to put the pride back into Derby County.

"We have let ourselves down, for sure, and tomorrow night I'm sure boys will turn up and certainly wear that shirt with pride and passion and do what it takes to try get a result."

Eustace, who left a Backburn side that was challenging for promotion to take the helm of a Derby team battling to avoid relegation in the 2024-25 season, said he has "definitely not" considered walking away.

"I'm hurting like everyone else is," he added.

"This is a football club I came to help build and to help get back into the Premier League, and for the first 15 or 16 months we were on track with that.

"There has been a setback for sure, and now we have to find a way to make sure we get enough points to stay in the league and then we can reassess from there."

A failed takeover attempt at the club, which collapsed an hour before Clowes had been expected to hand over ownership, plus an injury crisis – which has only got worse with forward Sam Szmodics out for six weeks with a knee injury – have complicated thigs for Eustace.

"We have to put things in perspective," Eustace said.

"It's been really difficult but the results land on me, of course they do. And over the course of the season I expect to pick up enough points to keep us in the league.

"I fully accept that in the first 14 games the result haven't been good enough for sure. There is lots to improve on."