[madsteve]

This was a pretty entertaining game where we played some good football against possibly the best team in the division.

Hutchinson was moved to CB to cover for Lees with Lopez and Bannan returning to midfield. Palmer replaced Hunt at RB. We set up narrow in midfield, using the FBs for width. This meant that we nullified Thorne & Johnson, who have been dominating most matches and took control of the match. Palmer found great space on the right and put in a series of great crosses. We just lacked someone to get on the end of them.

We created three or four opportunities from distance in the first half, the best being Wallace's volley that appeared to be arrowing into the top corner until Grant tipped it over.

Second half, Derby got into the match more & it was more even but for me the overriding factor was that our back four rarely looked troubled. Our only moment of concern was when Westwood inexplicably handled a sharp Loovens back pass and Johnson smashed the free kick from 16 yards against the bar. The fact that Westwood only made one routine save in the whole match tells the story of how solid we were defensively & how Lees was barely missed.

Hooper replaced Joao late on but by then we were tiring in midfield & creating less. Pudil had probably our best chance from 15 yards but blasted it wide. Loovens had a free header from a corner but put it wide.

Westwood - 6
Palmer - 7
Hutchinson - 8
Loovens - 7
Pudil - 7
Lopez - 7
Lee - 6
Wallace - 7
FF - 7
Bannan - 6
Joao - 6
....................................
Hooper - 6

Stat Attack:

Goals: None

Assists: None

Tackles: 5 - FF, 4 - Bannan, 3 - Hutchinson, 2 - Lopez, Lee, 1 - Loovens

Interceptions: 3 - Hutchinson, Pudil, Lee, 2 - Loovens, 1 - Palmer, Lopez

Clearances: 4 - Loovens, Hutchinson, 3 - Pudil, 2 - Lee, 1 - Westwood, Palmer

Attempts: 3 - Wallace, 2 - Lee, 1 - Loovens, Pudil, Bannan, FF, Joao

Attempts On Target: Wallace - 1

Key Passes: 2 - FF, 1 - Wallace, Lopez, Bannan, Joao, Hooper

Dribbles: 2 - Palmer, 1 - Wallace, Lopez, Bannan

Dispossessed: 3 - Lee, 2 - Bannan, Joao

Bad Control: 4 - FF, Joao, 2 - Lopez, Lee, 1 - Hutchinson, Bannan, Hooper

Crosses (accurate in brackets): 10 - Palmer (0), 6 - Wallace (3), Bannan (1), 4 - Pudil (0), 3 - FF (0), 2 - Lee (0)

Passing Accuracy (total passes in brackets):

Loovens - 94% (32)
FF - 89% (36)
Hooper - 88% (8)
Bannan - 85% (59)
Lee - 84% (32)
Hutchinson - 82% (34)
Pudil - 81% (37)
Joao - 79% (18)
Lopez - 76% (49)
Wallace - 68% (38)
Palmer - 65% (34)
Westwood - 32% (31)

The stats show that we passed the ball much better than we have been recently and that we were dispossessed less than in any match this season.

A lot of grounds for optimism. The midfield functioned pretty well without Hutchinson against a top side & if we perform like that every week then we should be in the promotion shake up in May.