Davies’ side limped away from White Hart Lane, Anfield and the Emirates Stadium on the wrong end of 4-0, 6-0 and 5-0 scorelines respectively.

Now they head to Reading on Sunday looking for their first point and first goal on the road against a Royals side that conceded seven at Portsmouth on Saturday.

Matches against Fulham, Everton, Aston Villa and West Ham follow, and Davies is convinced it is a run of games that could see the club lift themselves out of the bottom three.

“It’s been a very difficult start to the season for us, because of the play-off final and the short rest period,” said Davies, who is expected to have a fully fit squad to choose from.

“My objective at the start of the season – for the first 10 games – was to try and make sure we were not detached in any way.

“We sit there at the moment beneath a lot of clubs that have spent massive amounts of money in comparison, and we find ourselves one win away from pushing ourselves right up.

“Having set a realistic target, it’s important we look to the fixtures in the next few weeks and realise there are some good opportunities for us.

“I’m confident that over time we will get better and become more familiar with our surroundings and achieve what we have to achieve – which is consolidation.

“I’m obviously not happy at being bottom of the league, but from where we have come from and what we have spent in comparison with everybody else, I’m delighted with where we are.”

Although Derby could conceivably be out of the relegation zone by Sunday evening, Davies is aware Reading will be looking to prove a point to their own fans in the wake of the 7-4 pasting at Pompey.

“We’re playing a side that has established itself in the Premier League,” added Davies on the club website, dcfc.co.uk.

“We are playing a side that has been here and done it before, a side that will be very much difficult to play against.

“They know how to compete and have good energy, so it will be a difficult away match, but no more than any other we have faced so far.”