 Saturday, 22nd Jan 2011 09:13 by Mick McDermott Once more into the breach. Is this game the formality that Forest fans hope? Or has the addition of Ben Davies given us some steel at last?
Derby County vs. Nottingham Forest13:00 Saturday 22nd January 2010Pride Park - Derbyshire
Derby v Forest - Historical P 44 W 18 D 11 L 15 F 69 A 51
Last game at Pride Park 30/1/2010 Derby 1-0 Forest; Hulse
Recent Form Doncaster 8/24 - P 24 W 10 D 10 L 4 F 34 A 22 Leading scorers: McGugan (10)
Derby 14/24 - P 26 W 10 D 4 L 12 F 39 A 38 Leading scorers: Commons (13)
The Rams It doesn't seem 5 minutes since we got mauled at the city ground and here we are with the reverse fixture. Most fans thought that Clough made a basic error in the team selection for the game at the City Ground with Dean Leacock being horribly exposed at full-back and Brayford stuck in the middle. Forest seemed to score at will that day however most of their goals came from simple crosses into the box that a competent centre half would have dealt with. We've not dealt with the issues raised in that game yet. Crawley and Watford both showed that we lack any confidence in defence. Nigel Clough may say we matched Watford for 80 minutes - maybe so but we conceded 3 goals in the other ten minutes and all were alarmingly simple. There's talk of getting Daniel Ayala on loan from Liverpool at Centre-half for the rest of the season and Miles Addison and Jake Buxton are fit so we should have a choice at the centre of defence. But that will all be undone if Clough does not get his full-backs right and for me only Moxey & Brayford should be considered for those positions if fit. New signing Ben Davies should go straight into the squad and hopefully may bolster our attacking midfield. Plus it appears he is someone who can take a set piece. I hope he's not been bought as a replacement for Kris Commons who the gossip mongers have Celtic or Rangers bound. To sell your two top scorers without replacement in one season will have most fans questioning the boards’ commitment and with renewals coming up...
Mick's Team Bywater Brayford Barker Addison Moxey Savage Green Davies Commons Pearson Porter SUBS - Deeney Buxton Leacock Davis Bailey Bueno Cywka
Current Rams Squad No. Position Player 1 Keeper Stephen Bywater 2 Defender John Brayford 3 Defender Gareth Roberts 4 Midfield Paul Green 5 Defender Shaun Barker (vice-captain) 6 Defender Dean Leacock 7 Striker Steve Davies 8 Midfield Robbie Savage 10 Midfield Kris Commons 11 Midfield Stephen Pearson 12 Striker Chris Porter 13 Keeper Saul Deeney 14 Defender Russell Anderson 15 Midfield David Martin 16 Midfield James Bailey 17 Defender Jake Buxton 18 Midfield Ben Pringle 19 Striker Tomasz Cywka 20 Defender Miles Addison 21 Defender Dean Moxey 23 Striker Conor Doyle 25 Defender Mark O'Brien 26 Striker Callum Ball 27 Striker Alberto Bueno (on loan from Real Valladolid) 30 Keeper Ross Atkins 35 Midfield Jeff Hendrick 36 Defender Kallum Keane 37 Midfield Ryan Connolly 38 Midfield Medi Abalimba 39 Defender Mitchell Hanson __ Midfield Ben Davies
Forest Billy Davies seems to have built a squad that should at least be challenging for the play-offs. He's added MLS Star Robbie Findlay to his squad for the rest of the season and the American is keen to start playing. Billy talking to BBC Radio Nottingham: "It wasn't an easy process getting a permit but a lot of people worked really hard for me and I'm just glad to get the chance to play here". Billy Davies has been quiet on the signing front recently and given his usual outspoken comments about the transfer panel, it's possible he may be lining someone up. One signing he has made is Marcus 'He's a Ram' Tudgay - and he's likely to be leading the line on Saturday. "It is a big occasion, it is another derby and it is something that you look forward to as a player, I have played – and scored – for both sides now and it is a brilliant game to play in."
"Hopefully we will have more of the same this weekend." Tudgay also has a warning for his team mates: "You can't get carried away, even if they have had a bad result again last weekend." "Clough is a good manager. He will have them prepared and the Derby lads themselves will be wanting to put things right. "There is no better time for them to get back on track than against us."
Current Forest Squad No. Position Player 1 Keeper Lee Camp (vice-captain) 4 Defender Luke Chambers 5 Defender Wes Morgan 6 Defender Kelvin Wilson 7 Midfield Paul Anderson 8 Midfield Lewis McGugan 9 Striker Dele Adebola 10 Striker Robert Earnshaw 11 Striker Nathan Tyson 12 Midfield Garath McCleary 14 Striker Joe Garner 15 Midfield Chris Cohen 16 Defender Chris Gunter 17 Striker David McGoldrick 18 Midfield Paul McKenna (captain) 19 Midfield Guy Moussi 20 Striker Marcus Tudgay 21 Keeper Paul Smith 23 Striker Dexter Blackstock 26 Midfield Matt Thornhill 27 Defender Brendan Moloney 28 Midfield Radoslaw Majewski 29 Defender Julian Bennett 31 Midfield Mark Byrne 33 Defender Joel Lynch 38 Keeper Karl Darlow 41 Defender Kieron Freeman 43 Striker Nialle Rodney
What the bookies think Forest are 6/4 favourites while we are at 9/5. The draw is 23/10. Kris Commons and Chris Porter are a 6/1 for first scorer whereas Marcus Tudgay and Robert Earnshaw are at 11/2 while Lewis McGugan is at 6/1.
Information for travelling fans Driving It’s a short hop from Nottingham to Derby. Take the A52 Brian Clough way. Pride Park is on the left as you enter the city. Parking Away fans can park at Catalyst on London Rd opposite the Navigation pub. It's about 10-15 minutes from the ground. Don't be tempted to park at Pride Park shopping centre unless you fancy being clamped. You can also park at the Fireplace showroom just at the turn off the A52 for Pride Park. Don’t be in a rush to leave however as it takes an age to get out of there. Another alternative is to pass the exit for Pride Park on Brian Clough Way and head for Pentagon Island... Take the first exit and turn left and after a few hundred yards you will come to The Cattle Market Car Park. It's about 10 minutes walk to the ground from here. Drinking It’s an early kick off and the police aren't likely to let away fans out of their sight, but there are a few pubs very close to the ground but if you come by train, the locale around the station is fairly inviting. The Crown and Cushion at the junction of London Rd always seems to be full of away supporters. The Brunswick is a must for any real ale fans and the Alexandra next door is my personal favourite. Fans tend to mingle in these pubs and as long as you're not being aggressive, the atmosphere is good. The Waterfall opposite the station is very good as well. If you are driving, the Navigation Pub on London Rd opposite the parking area is your best bet. Around the ground there's a Frankie & Bennie's, Harvester and the Pride Park but these tend to be very busy.
Mick's prediction Forest is confident and we're not. We've sold out of tickets for this one and it would therefore seem many are still going though they expect us to fail. Yet from talking to Forest fans at work, their confidence is tinged with fear. They fear a physical game in that they think they have a weak underbelly that overly physical teams may exploit. If Clough knows that it's to be hoped he exploits it. I'm annoyed the number of times it's looked as if we've never seen the opposition play. We only played these a couple of weeks ago. I hope he remembers. I'd take a draw now. Derby 0-0 Forest
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