Just before half time in Tuesday’s League Cup match at Fulham, it was starting to look as though the Rams were definitely going through a lean spell.

The Rams had followed the unimpressive one-nil win at Blackpool with an even less impressive two-one home defeat against Wigan; and now were losing two-nil to a capable looking Fulham team.

The only goals scored in this spell were a Chris Martin penalty at Blackpool, and a John Eustace effort against Wigan. The Fulham match was certainly not looking like a repeat of the Rams’ heavy win against the same opponents at the iPro back in August.

It got me thinking: when was the last time the Rams lost two in a row? For the record, the Rams lost two in a row against Burnley and Millwall in February and March; and three in a row against Wigan, Chelsea and Leicester in January. These are the only times it has happened under Steve Mac.

Of course, defeat did not happen this time. Five goals in twenty minutes of football will usually be enough to avoid defeat, and it certainly was at Fulham.

The lean spell is ended. It’s hard to imagine how a team can go from being so mediocre in the first half to so devastating in the second, but it happened for the Rams. The mediocrity was heightened by an unforgiveable error by the experienced Craig Forsyth for Fulham’s first goal; and by a much more understandable error by the inexperienced Kelle Roos and Omar Mascarell for their second. The second half was vintage Rams, and long may it continue.

I was left with one question after the match; 65 minutes in and the Rams were coasting; five-two ahead and no substitutes had been used. It was great to see Paul Coutts come on as a sub for his first senior action since September of last year but with Kwame Thomas on the bench, would this not have been a good time to give him his first senior appearance?

It looks as though Thomas may now be ranked ahead of Mason Bennett; if so, he needs a game at some point and there will not likely be a less stressful time again all season for the Rams.

On Saturday the Rams travel to Brentford, looking to avoid a second successive League defeat and Steve McClaren will have some interesting selection decisions to make for this match. Will Buxton and Mascarell keep their places? Will Jordan Ibe return?

Brentford look as though they will present unpredictable opposition; they are currently thirteenth, with 19 points, and have made a solid start for a promoted team. Yet they have suffered some fairly heavy defeats, and have difficulty scoring goals with their leading scorer being midfielder Jonathon Douglas who has 3 in 14 matches.

They do look to be stronger at home than away. If the Rams can come close to repeating the second half form from the Fulham match, a win should certainly be on the cards. I hope so, because the teams immediately below the Rams all look to be in with a good shout of picking up points at the weekend.

I’m looking for the Rams to show that the lean spell is well and truly behind them come Saturday.

Photo: Action Images

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