After their runaway win on Saturday can the Rams do something they have been unable to do this season and produce back to back wins.

 

Derby County v Middlesbrough

Pride Park, Derby

The Championship

28th September 2010 - 19:45 pm

Derby v Middlesbrough – Historical:

P 64 W 30 D 14 L 20 F 114 A 97

Last game at Pride Park:

16/03/10 Derby County 2 - 2 Middlesbrough  (Porter, Tonge)

Recent Form:

Middlesbrough:         19/24        P 8 W 3 D 1 L 4 F 8 A 13

Leading scorers: McDonald (3)

Derby:             20/24        P 8 W 2 D 2 L 4 F 12 A 11

Leading scorers:  Commons (3)

The Rams:

Nigel Clough was full of praise for his two loan strikers. Speaking to the Derby Telegraph he said;

"They were two very good finishes from Alberto and I am delighted for Shefki."

"Alberto's all-round performance was good. We keep saying we need somebody to get us a goal and he showed he can.Shefki got his goal through sheer persistence".

"He played well at Hull and at Barnsley and he works his socks off.

"I think the crowd will take to him with the effort he puts in".

"He gives us a presence up front."

I have to agree - for once the performance got the result it deserved. In fact were it not for some excellent saves from Julian Speroni in the Palace net we could have got 7 or 8.

The sending off had an effect, but the work rate and effort from the team would have overwhelmed 11 players.

It looks like Kuqi may be the sort of player we've been looking for. He looks big and bulky and he can win the ball and hold it up.

That's what the system we've been playing was looking for. A strong target man holding the ball up brings players into the game and with Bueno that's what we need. Feed the ball to his feet to run onto and he'll give defenders problems - and that's without Commons. Commons had a quite game but still scored our best goal so far this season.

The only fly in the ointment was the injury to Dean Leacock. Just when he was regaining his form. Six or seven weeks out at least - And centre half is one of our major injury positions.

Dean Moxey moved to centre half but it leaves us with no recognised left back. The other option is Mark O'Brien who has yet to make a full appearance.

Ryan Noble joined the Rams on loan from Sunderland for a month initially and will be on the bench for the Boro match.

Mick's Team:

Bywater

Brayford O'Brien Barker Moxey

Bailey Pearson

Bueno Green Commons

Kuqi

Subs –   Deeney, Pringle, Savage, Martin, Cywka, Noble, Moore

Rams Squad:

No.     Position     Player       

1    Keeper         Stephen Bywater       

2    Defender     John Brayford       

3    Defender     Gareth Roberts        LFT

4    Midfield     Paul Green       

5    Defender     Shaun Barker (vice-captain)       

6    Defender     Dean Leacock       

7    Striker     Steve Davies        Injured

8    Midfield     Robbie Savage (captain)       

9    Striker     Shefki Kuqi (on loan from Swansea City)       

10    Midfield     Kris Commons       

11    Midfield     Stephen Pearson       

12    Striker     Chris Porter        Injured

13    Keeper         Saul Deeney       

14    Defender     Russell Anderson    Injured

15    Midfield     David Martin       

16    Midfield     James Bailey       

17    Defender     Jake Buxton       

18    Midfield     Ben Pringle        Injured

19    Striker     Tomasz Cywka       

20    Defender     Miles Addison        Injured

21    Defender     Dean Moxey

22    Striker               

23    Striker     Conor Doyle       

25    Defender     Mark O'Brien       

26    Striker     Callum Ball       

27    Striker     Alberto Bueno (on loan from Real Valladolid)

28    Striker     Luke Moore (on loan from West Bromwich Albion)

29    Striker        Ryan Noble (on loan from Sunderland)       

32    Keeper         James Severn       

35    Midfield     Jeff Hendrick       

36    Defender     Kallum Keane       

37    Midfield     Ryan Connolly       

38    Midfield     Medi Abalimba       

39    Defender     Mitchell Hanson

Boro:

Things aren't going well for Gordon Strachan's Boro. Tipped for promotion, they are currently in the bottom half of the table having suffered 3 defeats.

The problem seems to be on the road. They have taken one point from the last six away games and conceded a goal after 17 seconds.

Strachan wasn't happy, speaking to the Evening Gazette he said;

“It was a stunner to concede a goal after only 17 seconds".

“But there’s still another 89 minutes left in which to get back into it and try to win the game. So it’s how you deal with the mistake which is important, but we didn’t deal with it at all".

“We had plenty of time to come back from that and we didn’t deal with that at all. We had a bad 20 minutes".

“We let that affect us, that 17 seconds. You can’t, as a group, let something like that affect you, that’s for sure.”

The Boro team are smarting from the defeat. Boro skipper Gary O'Neill said;

"Derby gives us a quick chance to put it right. This needs to be the wake up call for us. I know we’ve had a few already but hopefully that will be the one that really kick-starts us".

“We know that we need to eradicate all the silly mistakes and get right at it from the very first minute. We can’t afford any more defeats like that.”

Boro Squad:

No.    Position    Player

2    Defender    Justin Hoyte

4    Defender    Matthew Bates

5    Defender    David Wheater

6    Defender    Stephen McManus

7    Striker        Scott McDonald

8    Midfield    Kevin Thomson

9    Striker        Kris Boyd

10    Midfield    Nicky Bailey

11    Striker        Tarmo Kink

14    Midfield    Willo Flood

15    Striker        Leroy Lita

16    Striker        Lee Miller

17    Midfield    Barry Robson

18    Midfield    Gary O'Neil (captain)

19    Midfield    Andrew Halliday

20    Midfield    Julio Arca

21    Keeper        Danny Coyne

22    Striker        Luke Williams

24    Defender    Seb Hines

25    Midfield    Rhys Williams

27    Defender    Joe Bennett

29    Defender    Tony McMahon

30    Keeper        Jason Steele

32    Striker        Marvin Emnes

33    Midfield    Richard Smallwood

35    Midfield    Bruno Pilatos

36    Defender    Matthew Kilgallon (on loan from Sunderland)

37    Midfield    Mickaël Tavares (on loan from Hamburger SV)

What the bookies think:

Derby are favourites at 11/8 while the Boro are at 2/1. The draw is 9/4. The Bookies think that Alberto Bueno is now our main threat at 11/2 while Commons & Kuqi are at 6/1.

Scott Mc Donald & Kris Boyd are at 6/1 for the Boro.

Information for travelling fans:

Driving

It’s M1 to J25 for Derby. Follow Brian Clough Way towards the city until you see Pride Park on the right. The ground and away parking are signposted. About 40 miles and an hour’s drive.

Parking

Away fans can park at Catalyst on London Rd opposite the Navigation pub. It's about 10-15 minutes from the ground. Don't be tempted to park at Pride Park shopping centre unless you fancy being clamped.

You can also park at the Fireplace showroom just at the turn off the A52 for Pride Park. Don’t be in a rush to leave however as it takes an age to get out of there.

Another alternative is to pass the exit for Pride Park on Brian Clough Way and head for Pentagon Island... Take the first exit and turn left and after a few hundred yards you will come to The Cattle Market Car Park. It's about 10 minutes walk to the ground from here.

Drinking

Given the evening kick off, it's likely that there won’t be much time for drinking however there are a few pubs very close to the ground but if you come by train, the locale around the station is fairly inviting. The Crown and Cushion at the junction of London Rd always seems to be full of away supporters.

The Brunswick is a must for any real ale fans and the Alexandra next door is my personal favourite. Fans tend to mingle in these pubs and as long as you're not being aggressive, the atmosphere is good. The waterfall opposite the station is okay as well. If you are driving, the Navigation Pub on London Rd opposite the parking area is your best bet. Around the ground there's a Frankie & Bennie's, Harvester and the Pride Park but these tend to be very busy.

Mick's prediction:

Much much better from the Rams though it has to be said Palace were a poor team. On the other hand, we have been promising to give someone a stuffing for while. Can we keep it up against Boro?

I'd like to think so. They are smarting from the nature of the defeat on Saturday - they may be quick out of the blocks. If we can hit them the way we hit Palace on Saturday we could do as well again. If we attack then our shortage of defenders need not be a problem.

Derby 3 - 0 Boro (and it would be about time).

Photo: Action Images

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