Sheffield United warned that Derby County have adopted "siege mentality" after being docked 12 points for entering administration

Derby declared their intention to appoint administrators on Friday evening, on the eve of the club’s victory over Stoke, and with the process formally completed today, an automatic 12-point deduction has been applied – sending Wayne Rooney’s Rams to the bottom of the Championship table ahead of Saturday’s trip to Bramall Lane.

Trevor Birch, formerly of United and now chief executive of the EFL, says the league has the “intention to work proactively with the administrators and all relevant parties with the objective of securing a long-term and viable future for Derby County. ”

And Davies, speaking ahead of his side’s visit to South Yorkshire, admitted: “It’s obviously very difficult. I can almost say that as players, we’ve had a mindset of expecting something to come down the line.

“Either a points deduction or an embargo because of all the charges hanging over us. But to be hit with administration and the 12-point deduction was tough to take. Particularly on a Friday night just before a game.

“We could have gone into our shell on the Saturday. But the one thing about this group is that we’re all together, we’ve had that siege mentality from pre-season.

“We’ve got a small squad and a close togetherness, and we’re building a style and a squad that knows what we’re about. That’s what’s helped us get through the weekend and the last few days.”

A Derby statement confirmed that Andrew Hosking, Carl Jackson and Andrew Andronikou, of business advisory firm Quantuma, would serve as joint administrators.

“We realise that as much as us as players will be affected,” Davies added, “it’s the people behind the scenes that you don’t see, in the kitchen and the laundry and the analysts… they’re the ones that I feel for right now.

“Unfortunately, usually with administration you see redundancies. I’ve been at this club a long time, got to know a lot of people personally and you don’t want to see them go.”