Morley's Match Musings: Ibe Twists, Turns & Catches The Eye
Friday, 26th Sep 2014 06:34 by Nathan Morley

On Tuesday night the Rams met Reading for a place in the League Cup last 16. From the outset - only one side really looked like winning and that was Derby.

The 2-0 win, came courtesy of a great Johnny Russell strike and an own goal, along with a good all round performance. You can’t ask for much more than that.

The common denominator of both goals was that Chris Martin created them. For the first one, Martin slipped the ball into Russell’s path and, for the second, it was his cross that was turned in by the Reading defender.

Steve McClaren made many changes for this clash, including handing Kelle Roos his debut. The young goalkeeper did everything asked of him and made some smart saves for an excellent, competent debut. So much so that the South Stand faithful shouted “Roooooooos” every time he was involved.

Roos had an alert defence in front of him with Ryan Shotton slotting in at centre-half. He is certainly more than a viable option to fill that position.

Also coming into the side was Omar Mascarell. The loanee was hugely impressive; he anticipated the game well and made some intelligent interceptions and passes. He seemed to be everywhere and his performance should, I would think, be enough to get him a starting place on Saturday at Bolton.

In fact, the whole of the midfield had a good game and ran the show for much of the game with many typically neat passes through long spells of dominance.

Jordan Ibe caught the eye on more than once occasion. I was eager for him to start as he impressed as a sub at the weekend. He is such a tricky, unpredictable player and he offers something different to Ward and Russell; he can be very effective at running with the ball at the opponents, taking the game to them. Some of his twists and turns were delightful to watch.

Leon Best began ahead of Chris Martin and he got involved but the difference was clear when Martin entered the match.

The Rams didn’t quite manage the same amount of possession as Saturday when they had an amazing 73%, this time out it was down to only 64%! Derby had the quality and it prevailed.

Onto the Fourth round and a trip to Fulham — a team we easily accounted for recently. I was hoping for a quiet draw so we can march on, and judging the pairing on recent form, I got my wish.

Whatever happens - anything close to 2009 would be great!

For more of Nathan's articles you can read his blog at www.derbycountyfan.com and follow him@NathansRamsBlog on Twitter.