Your last chance for a visit to Ninian Park and your first chance to see a Nigel Clough Derby team. UPDATE: GAME CALLED OFF.

Cardiff City v Derby County
Coca Cola Championship
3:00, 10th December, 2009
Ninian Park, Cardiff

This season is likely to be the final one for Ninian Park. Construction of the new up to 60,000 seater stadium is underway on the nearby athletics ground and the club plan to use it from next season.

Cardiff will hope that its opening competitive game will be in the Premier League. Currently 4th in the table, the Bluebirds are unbeaten in nine games and are seven points off the automatic places.

They are also in the next round of the FA Cup after a 2-0 win over Reading. This has given the Bluebirds a plum home tie against Arsenal.

Manager Dave Jones applauded his players for coping with the difficult condones:

"It was a tough game for us and difficult underfoot as well. It was quite icy out there and the longer the game went on the goal areas were becoming harder."

Jones had learned his tactics from the earlier league draw at Reading. He went on:

"We knew Reading had a ploy where they would come out and we asked Roger (Johnson) to make his run late and we caught them. We thought Roger would shoot but he squared it and you can't be offside from there and a good little finish from the kid (McCormack). The second goal was a great move, good football in the right area. We caught them cold. It was quick, decisive and a great finish off Joe (Ledley)."

The Bluebirds lost loanee winger Wayne Routledge to QPR last weekend however they've moved quickly in the transfer market to snap up Scottish International winger Chris Burke from Rangers as a replacement.

The only injury doubt for the Bluebirds is Gabor Gyepes who has strained his back.

Cardiff facts

The Rams

Nigel Clough takes charge of the Rams for the first time. He takes charge of a team that is on a high after their well deserved win over Manchester United and fight back against Forest Green.

Will Clough be able to fan the flames of that precious self confidence and get the players going in the right direction? Wednesday showed we can take on anyone on the night and none of our players looked hopelessly unable to cope.

Andy Todd, Robbie Savage, Gary Teale, Mile Sterjovski - players that looked like they'd never kicked a ball in their life suddenly looked good against the World champions.

Clough will start with a fresh sheet and we fans should do the same with the players. Clough has said he needs to trim the squad but we the fans should not be making those decisions for Nigel in that we should also allow the players a fresh start. Andy Todd was a revelation of Tuesday night and that was the best I've seen him play since his debut. Even Gary Teale looked useful once on and never once hid or panicked.

Miles Addison and Kris Commons came into their own. Miles looked calm and collected on the ball - much like his opposite number in Paul Scholes - a player he should try and emulate in the future. Kris Commons free from defensive duties scored a cracker and might have had a hat-trick. It shows what can be achieved with square pegs in square holes.

The game at Pride Park finished as a 1-1 draw with neither side really dominating the play. Since then Cardiff have improved considerably while we have been on the back foot. This will be a tough game for Clough to take charge of and we shouldn't expect miracles.

Mick’s team: Bywater, Connolly, Todd, Nyatanga, Camara, Davies, Green, Addison, Sterjovski, Commons, Varney

What the bookies think

The Bluebirds are favourites at 6/10 while the Rams are at an incredible 19/5. Following midweek, there will be a few who will plump for that. The Draw is at 12/5.

Favourite to score is Ross McCormack at 6/5 while Jay Boothroyd is at 6/4. All of our strike force are at 10/3 while Wednesday's hero, Kris Commons is at 5/1. Liam Dickinson is also listed at William Hill at 7/2.

Information for travelling fans

Driving: It's about 160 miles to Cardiff. Take the A38 south and using either the M6 toll or the regular M6, head for the M42/M40 interchange for the M5 south.

Join the M4 at J15. Leave the M4 at J33 and take the A4232 towards Cardiff. Leave the dual carriageway at the B4267 exit, signposted 'Cardiff (Leckwith) Athletics Stadium'. Follow the signs for the stadium.

Parking: There is a huge car park across the road from the ground and further parking is available at the nearby Athletics Stadium.

Drinking: Most of the pubs near the ground are home support only and should be avoided. The exception is the Lansdowne Hotel on Beda Rd approximately ten minutes from the stadium. Footballgroundguide.com recommends drinking in the city centre before making your way to the ground.

Mick's prediction

Tough game and one I wouldn’t have expected anything from before Wednesday – now anything is possible!

Photo: Action Images

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