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Morley's Match Musings: Positive Signs But Has Derby Turned The Corner?
Sunday, 31st Jan 2016 12:39 by Nathan Morley

The Rams showed some promising signs on what was a rainy night for their 4th Round FA Cup tie at the iPro but in the end they were outclassed by their top flight visitors.

Paul Clement went unchanged which suggests he is now aiming to bring some stability to the team after a couple of weeks of chopping and changing.

On paper it is probably his best side but once again their was no room for Bent or Weimann in the squad plus it was a bit of a shock that Buxton wasn’t even among the subs with both Pearce and Shotton now out on loan.

The game began with dominance from United as Derby sat back deep and seemed to let them get the game running. When the hosts did get the ball it wasn’t moved around quickly so it all just felt like a flat start from Derby, perhaps giving their opponents far too much respect.

However, the Rams did have a good spell when they went on the front foot and showed what they can do. Getting Chris Martin involved was a massive part of that and Thorne’s goal was a reminder of what our number 9 can do (excellent pass to set it up) when he has a midfielder running forward to support him, although Thorne wasn’t the player I had in mind!

Derby were not completely outplayed, just outclassed by a side with Rooney, Mata and co in it. There’s no shame in that. Two of their goals looked just slightly offside when viewed with the hindsight of TV replays and perhaps the Rams should have had a penalty when they were 1-2 down in the second half, but that aside, United definitely shaded the Rams and deserved their victory.

It was a decent effort and plenty of the starting 11 came out of the game with credit, after all the opponents are Premier League big hitters.

Butterfield has become the nearest the manager has to Hughes and looks a very tidy player in midfield and hopefully both he and the team can take some confidence away from a game in which they were more than competitive.

It was disappointing but expected to find Man United fans in the home end but surely they could have kept quiet when they scored!?

Now it is back to the league for some very important matches. Boxing Day was the Rams’ last league victory.

Based on recent results it looks a challenge to remain in the top six but there’s a long way to go and there were encouraging signs both on Friday night and last weekend at Burnley.

Here’s hoping we have turned the corner and a run of positive results are on the horizon.

COYR!!

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


Match Highlights:


Gaffer / Player Interviews:

Paul Clement Post Match Interview:


COYR!!



Photo: Action Images



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