Derby County will need time to get to grips with the evolution of Championship football, says former Rams manager Gary Rowett.
The club have taken six points from a possible 12 on their return to the second tier after two seasons in League One.
Rowett, 50, who led Derby to the Championship play-offs in 2018 before leaving for Stoke City, says the Championship the Rams have returned to is unlike the one they dropped out of in 2022.
“It’s a different animal and you have to go about it a different way,” Rowett told BBC Radio Derby.
“Someone like Derby, it might take a little bit of time to settle in to the Championship, but I think they have made a really good start.”
Rowett has moved back into media work this season, having finished last term as interim Birmingham City boss – a stint that ended in relegation from the Championship.
His four-year tenure as Millwall manager had been brought to an end earlier that season.
It was in the early months of the campaign that he noticed a shift in the approach to the game at that level, with a focus on possession.
“At the start of last season something felt different in the Championship,” he said.
“In the years before, I would say four or five teams played, if you like, the Manchester City style of football and everyone else was a real mix.
“So you could go about things a slightly different way knowing that those four games you are going to have a different challenge when you might not have much possession. Then some games it might be a real physical battle and some games it might be a real battle around set-pieces or transitions, so there are so many challenges.”
In Derby’s 2-1 defeat by Watford, the Hornets dominated with 65% possession and in both their wins to date – a 1-0 triumph against Middlesbrough and 3-0 victory against Bristol City – the Rams have prevailed despite seeing less of the ball.
Rowett lauded that latest win against the Robins as a “fabulous result” for Paul Warne’s side.
“It’s going in a really good direction,” Rowett continued.
“It’s not easy to get out of League One. It’s not an easy job, and I think what you have got to say is that Paul Warne has done the job.
“He has got out of League One, which was always the first step for Derby to achieve, and now this season, of course, they will feel their way into the Championship.”