Derby County’s pre-season programme rolled on, as manager Nigel Clough hoped for squad injuries to clear up so that he could field his desired team selections and formations.

Injuries have plagued the manager’s preparations and with promises and expectations of genuine on-field progress in 2011-12, Rams fans will not want any repeat of the congestion in the Moor Farm treatment room that has characterised past campaigns.

Casualties in the run-up to the new campaign have included the long-term injuries to Paul Green and Shaun Barker plus spells of inaction for Shackell, Bryson, Buxton, Riggott, Leacock, Croft and Bailey.

Regardless of the sick-list that manager Clough was lamenting that inhibited his selection plans, the training games were coming thick and fast during the past week, with a flurry of matches against local rivals building up to Saturday’s trip to play Exeter City.

Clough has often had to mix and match his players during this busy spell, and no doubt he’s suffered the ‘jigsaw puzzle blues’ because he’s been unable to field the combinations he wanted, or to rehearse his intended permutations in the run-up to the Championship season.

There was a late report of a friendly match at Eastwood Town from the previous weekend, which Derby won 4-0 with a brace from Theo Robinson, one from Callum Ball - who is taking the eye in Derby’s training games - and a goal from junior player Stefan Galkinski.

Legzdins, Cywka, Steve Davies and Pearson (starting as captain) all got a work-out in the game alongside several young Rams professionals. Steve Davies played at left-back and contributed well whilst Cywka and Robinson put in a valuable hour to add to their fitness.

Striker Jamie Ward is on the verge of a full international cap for Northern Ireland, having been called up for their Euro 2012 qualifying game against the Faroe Isles on August 10th. He’ll miss Derby’s Carling Cup tie against Shrewsbury Town on the previous day.

A Rams XI played at Matlock Town’s Reynolds Stadium on Monday evening and lost 3-2. Robinson, Cywka and Croft were the only senior first-team squad members to start the game and it wasn’t a happy opening, as Derby went 2-0 down after a quarter of an hour. Derby struck back to level the match at 2-2 through Cywka and Robinson before half-time, but then lost to another Matlock goal after an hour.

The first team squad then had a full run-out against League Two side Crewe Alexandra on Tuesday evening as they stepped up their pre-season programme. Chris Riggott finally got his wish for a start in the game as Clough fielded a strong team, with Robinson and Ward up front and Tyson and Maguire in support.

Riggott did more than just put in a solid performance for the first half - he gave the Rams the lead with a shot from 10 yards after a quarter of an hour. Welcome back, Chris! Stephen Pearson was taken off after a bruising challenge midway through the half, and then Crewe equalised through Bryon Moore as Derby reorganised. 

There was plenty of enterprising play from the Rams but they couldn’t capitalise on some stylish approach work throughout the rest of the match. They need to show a little more discipline and ruthlessness to make sure that good play brings rewards and carelessness must be avoided.

The Alex snatched a lead at the start of the second half when the Derby defence allowed Danny Shelley to take a pot-shot from 30 yards, and they held on for a 2-1 win.

Burton Albion entertained a DCFC XI on Wednesday night for the Bass Charity Vase final - and they beat the Rams to clinch the trophy with a 2-1 victory at the Pirelli Stadium. It was mostly a second-string Derby team although Legzdins, Croft, Cywka, Robinson and Ball featured in the match.

Derby also included ex-Notts County left-back Nathan Fox, and Derby goalie Ross Atkins, a trialist at Burton, guarded the net for the Brewers. Greg Pearson gave Burton a lead after half an hour, Derby equalising in the second-half through Alex Witham.

Both sides squandered goalscoring chances but it was Albion who notched the decisive goal when Calvin Zola tapped home a simple chance with 22 minutes to go.

Transfer news from Pride Park Stadium has ground to a halt, probably because the major activity has been the pre-season match schedule. Fans are still looking for further additions such as a true goal-poacher. A midfield anchor man, a centre-forward and some left-back cover.

It does seem to supporters that despite the influx of new recruits at the club, a few important pieces of the Clough-Glick jigsaw are still missing at this stage. Watford captain John Eustace, a Clough target, has now signed an extension with the Hertfordshire club, so we’re still a trusted hod-carrier short in front of the defence to name one gap in the ranks.

Supporter feelings that Derby’s recruitment spree was incomplete as the new season approaches were also echoed by ex-captain Robbie Savage. He commented that there were gaps in the squad, saying Derby needed a central defender, a midfielder and a goalscorer - and that they should be experienced heads.

Without having seen Barker and Shackell together yet, that’s a somewhat skewed view for the Welshman to offer - but Derby need to find players in the positions noted and we certainly do need more proven Championship players.

This season, a Football League link-up with Matchday Music Partner offers fans a chance to choose their “Top 5” tracks for broadcast at the stadium on matchdays.  There’s a feature about it on Derby’s official site; you can send in your own hit-list at:  http://musiccompetition.co.uk/dcfc

The scheme endeavours to “uplift the matchday atmosphere” - you know, that pre-match noise which fans used to be allowed to create for themselves by singing and chanting. That was before clubs deemed that rock and pop anthems should simply be blasted at us for about an hour from 21st Century stadium PA systems, at volumes that would do justice to a Metallica concert.

FIFA have taken time off from the subterfuge and counter-allegations of their worldwide bribery and corruption cases to declare that goal-line technology will again be considered at an IFAB meeting next March. If approved, leagues could use a system from season 2012-13; the Premier League says it will adopt the technology as soon as it is approved.

It will have taken football a long time to catch up with other major sports and adopt electronic judgement technology, which I’m sure I’ve been writing about for years on end - whilst various debates about allowed or disallowed goals have rumbled on. Getting on with introducing it and enabling clubs and countries to avoid crass and costly refereeing errors might save Mr Blatter from regularly issuing apologies.

The governing bodies also have yet to decide whether to retain the rather daft and (to my mind) largely unsuccessful system of having extra goal-line officials, as introduced recently in Europa League matches. A review is planned after the 2012 European Championships.

Having five officials always seemed expensive, unconvincing and cumbersome to me, especially as the cost and accuracy of goal-line technology is already compelling and proven in other sports, and football systems will no doubt be refined yet further.

England had a somewhat kind result in the draw to decide their World Cup 2014 qualifying group; they will face Montenegro, Ukraine, Poland, Moldova and San Marino. The final competition will take place in Brazil and by the time the qualifiers come round, current Three Lions boss Fabio Capello will be gone. Will a new manager lead England to glory? Breath-holding is optional.

Republic of Ireland U-19 international player Jeff Hendrick is returning to Derby to resume pre-season preparations after his nation was eliminated from the European Championships. They succumbed 5-0 to Spain in the semi-finals; Hendrick made appearances in all of the Republic’s games at the tournament in Romania.

Derby’s final pre-season away game came on Saturday against Exeter City. The League One side defeated the Rams 1-0 through a first-half goal from Chris Shepherd, even though Derby boss Nigel Clough had a couple more pieces of his jigsaw in action.

Manager Clough felt that the action that some of his players managed in the game was more important than the result. He needs his ‘best 11’ out there on the pitch as soon as possible.

Jason Shackell put in an impressive 45 minutes and Craig Bryson had 65 minutes for his comeback from injury. As in other press-season friendlies in July which Derby lost, they had the better of the play but failed to make the most of their chances. Let’s hope that the Rams are a tad more clinical when it all counts for points next Saturday!

Derby will face Premier League side Aston Villa in their final warm-up game on Wednesday. After the somewhat toothless displays this week from the Rams, it could prove a tough workout for them - and then Nigel Clough’s men face Villa boss Alex McLeish’s old side, Birmingham City, in the 2011-12 Championship curtain-raiser at Pride Park Stadium!

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In RamsWeek 31in 2010, a series of friendly games ensured that the Rams’ squad could ‘get into the groove’.

A good performance saw Derby beat Premier League Stoke 1-0 at Pride Park Stadium, courtesy of a Chris Porter strike. The Rams then went to Burton Albion and won the Bass Charity Vase in a 3-1 victory and a Derby XI won 2-0 at Solihull Moors.

The ‘showcase’ friendly at Pride Park Stadium was against promoted Birmingham City, which Derby lost 1-2. Murphy put Birmingham ahead before a Gareth Roberts’ drive levelled the game.

Then, goalkeeper Bywater gifted Brum their second goal by striking a clearance that was blocked and rebounded off a player and into the Derby net. 4,500 witnessed the spectacle.

During this sequence of games, Jake Buxton was making a comeback from injury and Shaun Barker was ruled out for the start of the season. History certainly keeps repeating itself at Derby!

Derby were preparing to sign 18-year old Texan striker Conor Doyle, whilst the experienced goalscorer that fans wanted eluded the club’s current ambitions.

Another target, Scunthorpe’s Gary Hooper, moved to Glasgow Celtic in a big-money transfer. Instead, Derby said that they might sign Ilkeston Town forward Abalimba ‘if the deal is right…’ Hilarious!

Photo: Action Images

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