Striker Conor Sammon is confident he can prove critics in the Derby County crowd wrong

DERBY County striker Conor Sammon is confident he can prove his critics wrong.

Sammon ended a run of 10 games without a goal by netting in the Rams' 1-1 draw at Championship leaders Cardiff City on Tuesday night.

It was a timely boost for the Republic of Ireland international, who had a penalty saved in last Friday's 1-0 home defeat to Crystal Palace.

His recent form has been a matter of some debate among the fans – with Sammon hoping to do most of his talking on the pitch.

"You hear certain things but I've got good team-mates around me, I've got a great manager who has belief in me and, ultimately, I believe in my own ability as well," said the £1.2m signing from Wigan Athletic.

"I'll just get on with it – keep training hard, keep working hard and keep trying to get more goals.

"I've been frustrated on a personal level that I've not got more goals than I have.

"But I keep going into every game confident that I will get chances and I'll put them away.

"I'm a striker and I'm looking to score goals in every game I play.

"I was obviously frustrated with the penalty miss but that's gone now and I saw the Cardiff game as a great opportunity to put things right.

"I'm in a position to go out on the pitch and change things and I was delighted to get the goal."

Sammon will not hesitate to put his hand up again when Derby are awarded their next penalty – if regular taker Jamie Ward, who is currently sidelined with a hamstring problem, is not on the pitch.

"I'll definitely be putting myself forward to take the next one," he said.

"I'm confident of stepping up and taking a penalty."

Sammon now has eight goals for the Rams this season – and he believes he has plenty to be positive about.

"I've got a lot to look forward to," he said. "We've got a great bunch of lads here and I think we're capable of very good things.

"It's frustrating that we're in the position we're in as we feel we should be higher.

"But there's lots to be positive about."

Sammon's 75th-minute opener at Cardiff was his first Derby goal away from Pride Park Stadium – and he will be looking for more when Nigel Clough's men visit Birmingham City this weekend.

"It's a strange stat and one I found out about a while back," he said.

"I don't go into away games any differently. I'm always looking to get in the right positions and get shots off.

"It would be great to add to my goal tally at Birmingham and help us get a win.

"I know Birmingham have been going through a tough patch. We'll look to play to our strengths and try to get the three points."

With Jamie Ward sidelined again with injury, Sammon has formed a new strike partnership with on-loan Chris Martin.

"Chris is a big, physical boy, who looks to hold up the ball and he's got an eye for goal," he said.

"He's impressed all of us in training.

"I don't think he's played that much football and it was his first 90 minutes for a while at Cardiff."