 Saturday, 19th Feb 2011 12:58 by Mick McDermott This is the first of what are big matches over the next few weeks against teams below the Rams, positioned at the bottom of the table. A win is preffered, a draw nearly acceptable but a loss could be catastrophic.
Scunthorpe United v Derby CountyGlanford Park, ScunthorpeThe Championship 19th February 2011 - 15:30pm
Scunthorpe v Derby – Historical P 9 W 3 D 1 L 5 F 17 A 17
Last game at Turf Moor 15/08/2009: Scunthorpe 3 – 2 Derby County; Green, Commons
Current Form Scunthorpe 23/24 - P 29 W 8 D 3 L 18 F 26 A 37 Leading scorers: Woolford (6lg,2Cup) Derby 17/24 - P 30 W 10 D 5 L 15 F 41 A 44 Leading scorers: Bueno, Cywka (4)
The Teams The Rams Nigel Clough speaking to BBC Radio Derby; "Two months ago there weren't any protests and we had the same owners and the same manager and pretty much the same bunch of players." Frankly speaking that is a ridiculous statement. When we were doing well, we had a player in Shefqi Kuqi who could hold up the ball and bring the attacking midfielders into the game and a goalkeeper in Frank Fielding who could pass to his own players. Another quote from Clough after last week’s debacle against Leicester: "We set up in a certain way to try to stop Leicester and it turned out we were far too negative and tentative." "Probably the formation combined with a bit of tension and nervousness around the place at the moment wasn't the best way to go." If you'd asked any supporter walking into the ground what formation we should play against Leicester, not one would suggest a 4-5-1 with Steve Davies up front. Yet that was the best formation and tactic the manager could come up with. Would one person other than Clough have dropped Cywka for the hapless Pringle? Or played the spineless Pearson at all? Okay we played better in the second half but Leicester had won the game by then. We didn't have a shot of note on target all game. We were the home team - that's a damning indictment of any club. Never mind that Leicester are Premier League bound and spending money like it’s going out of fashion ... No shots on target is not acceptable. Now we place a team below us who have been struggling but take note - they beat Forest the other night so are no pushover. Clough has signed two strikers on loan from teams below us struggling to score - while other teams loan "difficult to get hold of" Premier league players ... Will they be the spark we need to stay up?
Mick's Team: Bywater Brayford Barker Ayala Roberts Savage Addison Green Ward B.Davies S.Davies SUBS - Deeney Leacock Bueno Porter Cywka Pringle
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 (club captain) 10 Striker Jamie Ward (on loan from Sheffield United) 11 Midfield Stephen Pearson 12 Striker Chris Porter 13 Keeper Saul Deeney 14 Defender Russell Anderson 16 Midfield James Bailey 17 Defender Jake Buxton 18 Midfield Ben Pringle 19 Striker Tomasz Cywka 20 Defender Miles Addison 21 Defender Daniel Ayala (on loan from Liverpool) 23 Striker Conor Doyle 24 Midfield Arnaud Mendy 25 Defender Mark O'Brien 26 Striker Callum Ball 27 Striker Alberto Bueno (on loan from Real Valladolid) 28 Midfield Ben Davies 29 Midfield Jeff Hendrick
Scunthorpe
Ian Barraclough has warned his Scunthorpe side that their victory over high flying Forest is not enough to keep them up and has called for more hard work from his Scunthorpe team. Speaking to the Scunthorpe Telegraph he said: “It’s only three points, so it’s a start." "I’ve said to the lads, if you don’t put that amount of work in again on Saturday against Derby, you’ll get beat." The game was won with a late Own goal after a brave defence against a rampant Forest - So it sounds as if Barraclough set his team up to defend 0-0. And it worked. This was the Iron's first victory at home since August and it couldn't come at a better time. If they are to retain their championship status they have to win games. The sales of Hooper and Hayes in the summer has robbed them of their most potent goal scoring duo and left them struggling at the wrong end of the table. They must fancy their chances in this one.
Current Irons Squad No. Position Player 1 Keeper Joe Murphy 2 Midfield Andrew Wright 3 Defender Ben Gordon (on loan from Chelsea) 4 Midfield Sam Togwell 5 Defender Rob Jones 6 Defender Cliff Byrne (captain) 8 Midfield Michael O'Connor 9 Striker Chris Dagnall 10 Midfield Andy Hughes 11 Midfield Garry Thompson 12 Defender Michael Raynes 13 Keeper Sam Slocombe 14 Defender Michael Nelson 15 Defender David Mirfin 16 Midfield Josh Wright 17 Striker Bobby Grant 18 Midfield Michael Collins 19 Striker Lee Miller (on loan from Middlesbrough) 20 Midfield Abdisalam Ibrahim (on loan from Manchester City) 21 Defender Eddie Nolan 22 Keeper Josh Lillis 23 Defender Rory Coleman 24 Striker Matthew Godden 25 Defender Niall Canavan 26 Defender Johnathan Williams 28 Defender Paul Reid 29 Defender Ashley Palmer 30 Keeper Jake Turner 31 Midfield Mark Duffy 32 Striker Paris Cowan-Hall 33 Striker Joe Garner (on loan from Nottingham Forest)
What the bookies think Scunthorpe is favourites at 9/5 while the Rams are a 25/10/ the draw is at 12/5. Lee Miller, Joe Garner and Chris Dagnall are all at 6/1 for the first goal as are Chris Porter and Alberto Bueno - clearly William Hill doesn’t have a clue.
Information for travelling fans Driving It's about an hour and a half to Scunthorpe. Take the M1 north to the M18 then take the M180/M181 to Scunthorpe. Glanford Park is at the end of the motorway on the right. Don't speed on the M180 or M181 - the Lincolnshire Constabulary make all their money on these roads. And don't park in Tesco or the retail park as they make a few bob out of that as well. Parking There's a car park at the ground or there's street parking if you head into Scunthorpe. Drinking There's no problem with home fans only bars in Scunthorpe as the fans are friendly. The Berkley just after the ground from the motorway is a favourite. There's a bar at the ground called the Old Farmhouse.
Mick's Prediction I'm going to predict a bore draw with very little goalmouth action. Both sides don't want to lose and both teams have lost their attacking flair. The pitch is apparently a ploughed field and we're frightened to cross the halfway line. Prove me wrong Nigel! Score Prediction: 0 - 0
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