The Rams got a point from their away day in Preston but still can't manage to get a ref to point to the spot. One point from them and it might have been two extra points for the Rams. C'est La Vie! 

Preston North End 0 v 0 Derby County
Coca Cola Championship
Deepdale
Tuesday 8th December 2009, 7:45 pm

Goals: Nil.

Referee: Phil Gibbs

Attendance: 11,755

Team Line Ups:

PNE: Andy Lonergan, Billy Jones (Nolan 65), Neill Collins, Liam Chilvers, Callum Davidson, Chris Sedgewick, Richard Chaplow, Michael Tonge (Parry 81), Ross Wallace, Jon Parkin (Brown 81), Neil Mellor 

Unused Subs:  Veliche Shumulikowski, Darren Carter, Wayne Henderson, Stephen Elliott

Derby: Stephen Bywater, Paul Connolly,Dean Leacock (Stoor 55), Jay McEveley, Dean Moxey, Paul Green, Robbie Savage, Stephen Pearson, Lee Hendrie (Teale 65), Paul Dickov (Porter 71), DJ Campbell

Unused Subs: Saul Deeney, Miles Addison, Jake Livermore, Lee Croft

Match Comment:

A game with no goals but plenty of opportunities to score one.
That would be the best way to summarise the trip to Deepdale as both teams created good chances and went within a whisker of breaking the deadlock.

Two teams not having the best of seasons met head on and what was expected to be a game that would produce a few goals, instead produced nothing. Nothing except frustrations as both teams racked up the shots on goal.

With Hulse and Stoor not in the starting line up Nigel finally answered Rams fans prayers with two strikers starting in an away game, D.J Campbell with his first start partnering livewire Paul Dickov. Hulse missed the game due to a knock he received against WBA and Stoor hit the bench for the same reason.

Hendrie, Green and Connolly returned to the line up with Croft and Teale joining Stoor on the pine. This would have sent alarm bells chiming for travelling fans as an unsettled defense became further unsettled. 

Stats for the game show that PNE had over twenty shots on goal so it seems that although under pressure the back four and Bywater held firm till the end. 

The Rams themselves also had plenty of genuine chances of which one at least should have been converted. Porter, Campbell and Teale were all guilty of squandering opportunities.

Campbell and Porter both could have decided the game late in proceedings with D.J in particular going within a layer of paint when his header crashed back off the bar.

The most obvious route to goal would have been a penalty if it had been awarded to DJ Campbell early in the contest. Instead the Rams luck with referees continued as everyone in the stadium including the opposition manager and players admitted after the match that it looked like a penalty but sadly the referee felt differently. 

When speaking to the Derby Telegraph, D.J felt aggrieved the ref did not point to the spot:

"It was a penalty all day long," said Campbell, whose last-gasp equalizer earned Derby a 2-2 draw with West Bromwich Albion on Saturday. Their goalie admitted to me afterwards that it was a blatant penalty, which I knew already and so did everyone in the stadium, apart from the ref”.

"It looked like the ref had his whistle in his mouth ready to give it but he didn't. That's football and there is nothing we can do about it now. I could have had at least a couple of goals, so I was disappointed not to score and we were a bit disappointed not to win."

Hint to D.J.. make sure you say 'extremely disappointed not to win'.. fans like that a bit more than 'a bit'!

Three points would have been nice but a point is a point and best of all it was not another away loss.

The performance was much more solid than most on the road this season and with injuries forcing late reshuffling and for Nigel to rely on a makeshift defense, the Rams held firm and continued the good work of recent games.

It seems with players becoming fit and available for duty Nigel is employing tactics and changes that the fans have been crying out for. It goes to show that perhaps Clough was always of the same mind as his detractors but did not have the personnel available to do so.

It is definitely a case of feeling he has the depth now to do so rather than caving to the pressure of detractors. Hopefully he will be given credit for this by those so ready to criticize him of late… but I doubt it.

The main concern to come out of the clash was the injury to Dean Leacock and perhaps would do well to buy some wood to knock on.

Before the game he spoke to therams.co.uk and how he felt he had put his injury problems behind him. Perhaps next time he should suggest that he is sure to break down and will be lucky to appear at all for the rest of the season. It’s worth a try Dean!

To counter that negative it was great to see Porter back on the park and could have easily made a hero of himself near the death. He could become a massive addition to the squad for the rest of the season and to use a well worn cliche, will be like a new signing (unless that new signing was Clod Davis). 

Hitting the road again on Saturday will give the Rams to bury their away hoo-doo once and for all. Nigel should remember to pack a whistle for the trip and offer it to the officials before the game. A lesson on how to blow it might also be handy and I am sure if they asked he would be more than happy to oblige.

Managers Post Match Comments:

Nigel Clough speaking to the Derby Telegraph:

"We can take a lot of heart and confidence from going three unbeaten, it was another very positive performance against Preston, much more positive compared to how we have been away from home of late, especially at Swansea”.

"But there is also some frustration in that we have put two excellent performances in back-to-back against Preston and West Brom and not won. We have taken two points from six. We would rather have been rubbish in one and won the other and taken three points."

"The game was extremely open, in the first half we were very good, in the second Preston came back and got on top for a little while and created some chances but we finished strongly”.
"I was talking to Preston manager Alan Irvine with eight to 10 minutes to go and he said neither team deserved to lose. I thought it was another very good match."

Best of the Match Reports:

DCFC - Official Site

PNEFC - Official Site

therams.co.uk

Sky Sports

Photo: Action Images

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