Paul Jewell has told his Derby players that it is not impossible to avoid relegation from the Premier League.
Derby boss eyes another great escape
Derby manager Paul Jewell has told his players that it is not impossible to avoid relegation from the Premier League this season.
The Rams are currently rooted to the bottom of the table having secured just one win from their 17 league games this season and their survival chances have been largely written off.
However, Jewell - who has suffered three defeats from his three games in charge of Derby - insists he will not be throwing in the towel.
"We're up against it, but nothing is impossible," Jewell told the
Daily Star. "I won't stand for anyone lying down and giving up.
Surprise
"It's tough, but I wasn't under any illusions about that when I came here. There's no surprise there."
Jewell produced relegation escapes during his time with Bradford and Wigan and he is adamant that he is not about to add a blemish to that record.
The Pride Park boss also says that he is not concerned by the statistic that most teams who are bottom of the league at Christmas are condemned to the drop, with only West Brom escaping in 2004/05.
"I've never been relegated and I'm not about to sit back and let it happen without one hell of a scrap," Jewell added.
Bottom
"We don't need to be reminded we're bottom because it's there staring us in the face.
"Now people are bringing up this 'bottom club at Christmas' thing, but there's nothing I can do about what has happened in the past."
Jewell has also dismissed the prospect of panic buying in the January transfer window in an attempt to avoid relegation.
"Of course we don't want to go down, but I won't spend unnecessarily in January if I can't get the right players in," he continued. "I love this job and I want to manage in the Premier League.
"I've told the players that if you don't believe you can do it then you might as well give up. I won't have that sort of talk here."
