G.M's Match Day Preview: Rams Need To Bring Reds Back To Earth!
Sunday, 14th Sep 2014 10:12 by George Martin

Derby County travel to the City Ground today - to play in front of the Sky Sports cameras for their first game back after the international break.

This match is very hard to predict. Derby have at times played some good football so far this season, but they have also been mediocre when compared to the majority of last season.

The start to the Ipswich game was good, but Derby was unable to capitalise on the opening goal from Martin. Looking to score from a set piece, Ipswich managed to sway the referee into giving a number of free kicks and this also upset Derby's flow and rhythm to the game, as well as frustrating the fans.

I thought Grant and the back four had stopped conceding goals from free kicks deep to the back post, and if Ward would grow up and stop conceding them, then the defence and Grant would have one less thing to worry about. In the end Derby had to be happy with a point. The right result.

The two week break seems to have helped Buxton with his hip flexor problem and will be better for the break. However, Hendrick is out for around 3-4 more weeks due to his shoulder dislocation and Ward is very doubtful with his usual hamstring problem.

Ward may make the bench and if this is the case I see Dawkins coming in as a straight swap on the left, but he has to step up to the plate. Some of his play this season has lacked variety and he has become a little predictable, always coming inside.

The other option is to give Ibe his debut. Fans might think it would be a risk, but if he is as good as we are led to believe, then would it? Remember Thorne's debut!

Eustace will continue in the holding role and Russell will hopefully have a better game then against Ipswich where is literally did nothing.

Notts Forest have made a very good start to the season points wise after the debacle from January onwards, in which Billy Davis seemed to even fall out with his own shadow and 'bottle' the play offs, which meant they finished 11th.

Yes, Derby lost in the play off final in heart breaking fashion, but the trees finished 11th. That is nearly on the 2nd page of the old Ceefax!

Living in an 'NG' postcode, but actually living in Derbyshire, many of my Florist 'friends' have said that the trees have not actually been playing that well, but they have scored plenty of goals and scored them at the right time.

They are more organised, tighter in defence and have spent around 9 million pounds on new signings including Fryatt, Antonio and Assombalonga (and the bookies make Derby favourites to go up?! - weird).

Antonio has made a very good start on the left wing, scoring and creating goals with Assombalonga scoring goals in and around the six yard box. It will be interesting to see if The Red Dogs will play with one up front and match Derby's 4-3-2-1 formation allowing Lansbury, Reid and Burke to get forward. Both full backs will have to have very good games to stop the constant threat of Antonio and Burke.

At Birmingham away last season Forsyth was given a torrid time by Burke who scored one and created another when they fought back from 3-1 down. Since then, Forsyth has been much better, but he has made a very inconsistent start to this season. His passing accuracy has become a problem. Derby will also have to keep a close eye on goal poacher Fryatt whether he starts or comes off the bench.

This is in contrast to Christie who has been my man of the season so far. He gets obvious credit for going forward, but I have watched him closely and he does defend well too. He was clearly held down with both hands for the Ipswich equaliser. Yes, he is may be not as good as a defender as Wisdom, but Wisdom is clearly a Premier League player. It will be interesting to see if Shotton is given a role within the back four as he is a solid defender.

Florist will look to make a positive, high tempo start and the first 15 minutes will be important.

Hughes in particular is important and hopefully will have a good game. Under Billy 'bottler' Davis, Notts Forest players tended to kick Hughes first and think later. When we lost 1-0 in Clough's last game in charge, Florist conceded around 27 free kicks (the average in the Championship is around 12), many of which were conceded in the Derby half and around the half way, thus making them less 'dangerous' to defend.

Pearce has said he wants his team to play good attacking football and hopefully this will suit Derby, Hughes, Bryson and Martin. Derby tends to struggle against teams who try to stop us playing and who are very compact and difficult to break down.

Derby will want to play with controlled aggression and disciplined passion. We must keep 11 players on the pitch. It 'should' be a tight game, but a local derby is very difficult to predict. I think most Derby fans would be happy not to lose with the start Derby have had and the points the red dogs have accumulated.

My heart wants a 2-1 win; my head is going for a 1-1 draw. Head.

Whether you are at, what might in the future, be called the KFC ground (or something like that!), watching on Sky Sports or listening to the guys going crazy in a good way on radio Derby, then support the boys all the way and try and enjoy the game!

As we know, that usually depends on the result.

Big game, good 90 minute performance = good result!

Come on Derby. Bring them back down to earth!

Current Form:

Forest - 1st (W,D,W,W,W ): Undefeated so far this season with 4 wins and 1 draw.

Derby - 7th (W, D, L, W, D ): Looked like world beaters at times and average in others. Will be looking to get moving if they are to challenge for top 2 this season.

Last Time They Met:

The Rams ran out 5 — 0 winners in what was one of the greatest wins in the clubs long history. If they can achieve anything that goes close to that performance — Forest will be in for a torrid time. Here’s hoping!