Friday night’s game at home to Manchester United is a welcome distraction from the League which has proved challenging for Paul Clement’s side of late.

I’m actually more confident going into this game than I was the game against our bogey side Burnley.

Because this one is a Cup fixture - it is a whole different ball game. That’s the beauty of the FA Cup, a side with no League win in January is in with a good shout, especially with United’s awful recent form. If only it was at Old Trafford as their results there have been shocking.

You’d expect Paul Clement to make a few changes and use his huge squad. Weimann and Bent (who seem to be out of favour) are hopefully options for this one. Camara looked bright when he came on against Burnley, he must be pushing for a start. Don’t forget Jake Buxton too.

But to what extent should the manager use the squad? It’s great to have so many options with such depth, however managing so many quality players must be difficult.

When things weren’t going well at the end of last season Steve McClaren made changes every week and it all seemed very messy (Keogh at right-back and Warnock in the ‘Thorne’ role as examples!) I would go with a similar side to the one that played on Tuesday night, with the exception of bringing in Camara & possibly Buxton.

New signing Marcus Olsson from Blackburn is not Cup tied so he is in the running with Warnock, who, for me, deserves to keep his place for this big night. He has been excellently consistent and it has been pleasing to see him prove me and many wrong from last season.

It’s one of those games that is a win, win situation. Nobody expects the Rams to pull it off while it is a chance for the squad to pitch themselves against a Premiership side.

The pressure is off with it being a good break from the stresses of the League and it could reinstall some of the confidence clearly lacking in recent performances.

The recent slump in form has been frustrating when you see the players at the manager’s disposal. It’s hard to think of a solution — the starting eleven has been changed but the results haven’t.

After the improvement against Burnley, the team could just be one win away from kick-starting their stalled season, I do think that, but at the same time you cannot paper over the cracks of recent displays.

It’s time for players to live up to their reputations and no longer put in performances where much of the midfield have been passengers, strikers ineffectual and the defence on the back foot.

A 2-1 home win is my prediction.

Blind optimism? Possibly but it is the FA Cup!

Come on you Rams!

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

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