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LAST TIME OUT
NOTTINGHAM FOREST 1 DERBY COUNTY 0


PRESTON NORTH END 3 HUDDERSFIELD TOWN 1


LAST SEASON
FRANK LAMPARD'S DERBY COUNTY 2 PRESTON NORTH END 0


Transfers
Bielik at 7.38 million only fee paid rest are loans and free signings

Off to the East Midlands on Saturday to play a side who we have not beaten since our return to the Championship, although we have a poor record against them, we are quite good at getting their managers potted, McLaren and Rowett both left soon after their failure to beat us.
Under manager Cocu they are under performing this season and off the field problems seem to have impacted on them. losing Keogh through the drink drive raceathon was a blow and so was the fall out from it. Also in the background is the possible points deduction for the slightly sneeky buying their own ground back from themselves to get their way round FFP.
Add it to that renowned granny shagger Rooney apears to be having his wages paid by a betting company when he finally arrives to play which has also gone down like a lead balloon in some quarters.
Errant driver Lawrence will be available having luckily managed to avoid a red card in the local derby against the Trees.
All in all it's time for us to end the run of naff results against this lot.

Pearson should return from suspension, hopefully DJ will as well, over 2000 away fans will be rocking up as we now enter a very important phase of the season

Match Officials: Derby County Away






It was March of this year the last time Saturday’s match official, Tim Robinson, took charge of the Lilywhites, the goalless draw at home to Nottingham Forest.
Prior to that, we saw the referee in December 2017. That game, a 1-0 win at home to Sheffield United, saw Robinson as the man with the whistle at a PNE game, for the second time in three weeks.

Tim, from West Sussex, in his eighth year on the EFL list and was the match official for the 1-1 draw with Norwich City at Carrow Road in November that same season.

Before that, he last took charge of North End in his first trip to Deepdale, when we overcame Birmingham City 2-1 back in March of the previous season.
That was his fourth game overall in charge of the Lilywhites, the others all being away trips; Brentford, Ipswich and a 2-0 victory at Coventry City when Joe Garner and club captain Tom Clarke were on the scoresheet.
This will be his 12th game of the season, his last being table-toppers West Brom’s 2-0 win at Stoke City, in front of the Sky Sports cameras three weeks ago. This season he has issued 35 cautions and one red in those previous 11 games.

This is his second Derby game of the season, having overseen their 2-2 away draw with Stoke City back in August.

The assistants on Saturday afternoon will be Jonathan Hunt and Mark Jones, whilst the fourth official assigned to the game is Alan Young.

At least 2300 tickets sold so far.
Fans are up for it .

Indeed they are it’s the hope that kills

Derby County 1 Waghorn Preston North End 0

Derby County line-up: Roos, Forsyth, Shinnie (Evans, 15), Bielik, Lawrence, Martin (Wisdom, 78), Bennett (Waghorn, 28), Holmes, Lowe, Davies, Bogle. Subs not used: Hamer, Paterson, Dowell, Marriott.

PNE line-up: Rudd, Fisher (Gallagher, 46), Pearson, Davies (Storey, 73), Browne, Johnson, Rafferty, Stockley (Bodin, 46), Bauer, Maguire, Barkhuizen. Subs not used: Ripley, Ledson, Nugent, Potts.

Attendance: 27,417 (2,435 PNE fans)



This is our fifth season back in the Championship and our ninth meeting with the Rams in that time we have not beaten them and barely scored against them, in truth we barely threatened to win today.

Johnson and Pearson both returned to the line up after suspension and injury respectively. We started slowly and found Lawrence extremely difficult to deal with as he terrorised our back line every time he got the ball. He fired an early effort wide before we got a free kick on the edge of the box from the resulting scramble Bauer fired over.



Apart from a Stockley effort which went wide it was Lawrence who ran the first half, after a mazy run the ball ran to Holmes whose shot hit the bar and went skywards at a rate of knots, a coupe of early injuries to Rams players didn't stop them, Lawrence denied by Rudd as was substitute Waghorn who played on when the entire North End defence waited for off side. Did not matter shortly afterwards Waghorn seized on a chance from a corner and 1 up were the home side and deservedly as well.



North End were second best and sadly seemed to have only one tactic long ball to Stockley did not work. Half time came Fisher and Stockley off Gallagher and Bodin on, Fisher had had a torrid first half possibly lucky not to get a red when he got a yellow.. Substitutions worked we passed the ball about and looked better and had the ball in the net ruled out though think it was offside.
Although better Derby had chances Waghorn should have done better when one on one with Rudd and both Lawrence and Bogle fired efforts just wide.
The Rams defended their lead and tried to play on the break, could not find a way through although looked dangerous at set plays, pity really we never put their keeper who looked a bit suspect under pressure. No complaints about the result better side won o the day onto Hull on Wednesday night.

Derby manager Phillip Cocu:

"I think it was one of the best 45 minutes I have seen from the team. It was a great combination of tactical execution of the game plan and doing what we wanted to do.

"It's what you want to see and we could have made it a bit easier for ourselves and scored an extra goal, but the team recognises this more and more.

"You don't force it and go forward with everybody but just try to keep your organisation and if you don't score a second one you make sure you have a clean sheet, so this is a positive development because it would have been a shame if we had drawn after playing 60 minutes of great football."

Preston boss Alex Neil:

"I thought first half we lost too many headers, too many battles all over the pitch and Derby were faster, sharper and better than us.

"Like I said to them at half-time, it's quite easy for me to come in and start shouting and bawling and tell everybody how poor they've been but nothing is won at the moment and we are going to lose games along the way.

"The players understand and are frustrated for themselves, but at the end of the day, we win and lose as a team. Sometimes I'll get it wrong, sometimes they won't perform and that's part and parcel of it."

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