Well it's congratulations to Nigel Clough and the players for producing the first away win of the season at Brighton. After going so close a couple of time against Blackburn I had a feeling Martin would score, but to get two was excellent.

Derby had to hold on at times and was slightly fortunate with a penalty decision, but this is the Championship and Derby was away from home, so from time to time the away team will be under the cosh. Derby's away record under Clough is very poor but this is hopefully a large step in the right direction on the road.

We look ahead to Saturday's game against Leicester City where both teams have virtually a clean bill of health.

Sean St. Ledger will be missing with a knee injury for Leicester. This fixture and 2-1 victory towards the end of least season, eased any regulation worries as Derby sat 18th and 3 points above the relegation zone before kick off.

Jamie Ward will be pushing for a start after an impressive display for Northern Ireland in midweek, but with Coutts playing so well against Brighton I can't see Clough changing a winning team. The only possible swap would be Ward for Russell, but after Sammon was backed and supported so much last season you would expect Clough to have faith and stick with Russell.

Leicester have not really adding to their squad having spent millions over the past 2 to 3 seasons trying to get promoted. Apparently they have the money but have not been able to make additions due to financial fair play rules. On a separate note, how is Notts Forest able to spend millions? I am not sure the everyday fan totally understands FFP.

Leicester have brought in Miquel from Arsenal on loan but he has only completed a weeks training so will probably settle for a pace on the bench. Leicester do boast some big named and experienced championship players in Schmeichel, Morgan, Konchesky, Drinkwater, Dyer, Danns, King, Wood and Nugent, so it will again be a tough game for Derby who will have to demonstrate resilience when defending and quality on the ball in attack.

Martin will have to find pockets of space to hold the ball up and Russell will need to run the channels to get in behind, stretching Morgan and the others defenders to pull them out of position. This will hopefully allow Hughes to exploit the space and enable Bryson and Hendrick to make surging runs forward.

Although my head is possibly saying differently, I am going to stick my neck out and go for a Derby win with Chris Martin to again score.

Looking forward to the game!

George Martin (no relation).

Photo: Action Images

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