Could the long awaited league win be coming this Saturday?

Nottingham Forest v Derby County

Coca Cola Championship

1:00pm; 21st February 2009

The City Ground, Nottingham

The way some Derby fans are talking – and indeed Forest fans – Derby only have to turn up to win.

If you listen to Billy Davies, he seems to share the same opinion. Plus he seems to be rehashing his pre-match quotes from his time at Derby;

"We are trying to develop a winning side and, with all due respect, there are players in the side who should not be there. I can tell you, there will not be a number of these players in the side in the future. We have too many players who are looking for help and support and look to find that from the player beside them – and find a player who is young themselves.”

He then set out his plan for the rest of the season;

“We just need to finish fourth from bottom that is all we need to do. Then we can shape this club in the summer. We will make more phone calls before the weekend; we do have one or two irons in the fire. It was very unfortunate, what

happened during the January transfer window.”

He then lamented the loss of some his more talented players;

"The most important thing could be to get some of our injured players back in. Certainly, if we could get Earnshaw and Anderson back it would only help."

Nobody, least of all Nigel Clough should be taken in by all of this. The fact is Forest are a better side than their position in the table would indicate. Both games at Pride Park were close run things and if Forest had managed a third goal our comeback would probably not have happened.

Nor are all the Forest players young lads picked up off local parks. Nathan Tyson and Lewis McGugan are both excellent players and Tyson in particular has the pace to cause any defence problems.

Plus a local Derby is a great leveler. As one fans said replying to a Forest fan on a message board;

“Personally if you played your under 15's and we were top of the prem I'd still be worried, can never relax playing your lot home or away. Every minute of every one of these games is so tense. Even when we have the ball in your half I'm panicking about giving it away and you getting us on the break!”

Robert Earnshaw, Paul Anderson, Guy Moussi and Julian Bennett are all injured although Moussi may make the bench.

Forest statistics 

The Rams 

A 4-1 home win – you’d think the manager would be happy. Not Nigel Clough;

"That is probably the poorest we have played in some ways in the last few weeks but the goals lit up the evening and it was a workmanlike performance."

Clough is right. Apart from Kris Commons, many of the players were below par and losing Miles Addison and a resurgent Gary Teale early on was a blow.

That said, the player showed resilience and Blackpool are no pushovers. They have won 5 times away from home this season. As Blackpool manager Tony Parkes said;

“It was a great strike from the lad (Commons), quality. He had a hand in every goal but I don't think there was a big difference between the teams.”

Two late goals gave the scoreline a flattering edge but there’s no doubt the Rams were worthy winners overall.

The injuries to Addison and Teale are a blow. Teale may be fit but Addison is definitely out. Lewin Nyatanga seems the ideal candidate to replace him but Nigel Clough may want to consider Jay McEveley at centre half.

We have plenty of options to replace Teale if he doesn’t come through.

Mick’s Team: Bywater, Stewart, Albrechtsen, McEveley, Connolly, Green, Barazite, Savage, Sterjovski, Commons, Hulse

What the Bookies think

Forest are 5/4 favourites for this game while William Hill has the Rams at 9/5. The draw is 21/10. Rob Earnshaw and Nathan Tyson are at 5 and 6 to 4 respectively suggesting William Hill don’t believe the injury reports.

Rob Hulse is at 2/1 for the Rams as are Nathan Ellington and Kris Commons. Gary Teale is at 11/2

Information for travelling fans 

Driving: Take Brian Clough Way (the A52) towards Nottingham. Stay on the A52 into Nottingham following signs for Grantham until you see signs for A6011 into Nottingham – the ground is off the A6011. Better still – take the train. Some Forest fans report heavy handed tactics by the police towards unruly fans on the trains so take heed.

Parking: The best place to park is Victoria Embankment near the cricket ground. Footballgroundguide.com reports it as costing £3. There is street parking to be had around Trent Bridge but you need to get there early.

Drinking: It’s all home fans only around the ground though Rob Bristol, a Nott’s County fan informs us; “the Wheeler Bar on Meadow Lane will be open for all Derby County supporters at 10:30qm and there is parking for 150 cars at £3.”

Mick’s prediction

Loathe to predict these games. I don’t think I’ve felt lower in football than being 2-0 at the City Ground with the team seemingly in disarray. When we scored I turned to the bloke next to me and said that the next team to score will win this game.

Forest have a lot to prove and it could be they will be very quickly out of the traps. We need to show resilience and not buckle under the pressure and then we can get that long overdue League win to go with the cup win. 

Photo: Action Images

Derby County Polls