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MatchDay Preview: Leicester City vs. Derby County
MatchDay Preview: Leicester City vs. Derby County
Friday, 12th Nov 2010 09:47 by Mick McDermott

The Rams road train rolls into Fox territory and after proving they have little to fear on their travels, perhaps they can add some pelts to their booty of points.

 

 

Leicester City vs. Derby County    

Saturday 13th November 2010 15:00

The Walker Stadium - Leicester

 

     

Leicester v Derby - Historical

P 49 W 16 D 20 L 13 F 57 A 60

Last game at The Walkers Stadium

17/10/09 Leicester 0 - 0 Derby County

Recent History

Ipswich   17/24  P 16 W 5 D 4 L 13 F 21 A 19 

Leading scorers: King (6)

Derby     4/24  P 16 W 8 D 3 L 5 F 29 A 17

Leading scorers:  Commons (9)

The Rams

It was another away victory at Ipswich against a team that we've struggled with in recent times. These are heady days for the Rams. Most fans are scared to pinch themselves in case it's a ‘Dallas’ style dream.

Many fans thought we might have struggled once Hulse had gone. We haven't - in fact we've got better. Kuqi and Bueno may not have been the first choice for Clough however they've made an incredible difference to the team. It's not all about Kuqi and Bueno though as there's confidence throughout the team.

The board and Clough must be wondering how to go on from here. Kuqi is a short term loan but Nigel is already thinking about how he can get his loan extended with discussions apparently already taking place with the Swans.

Some may think we should invest the money we got for Hulse, however the last time we spent money in January to improve a promotion chasing team, we ended up making it worse!

At the start of the season, most fans would have accepted mid-table. A few more victories may have us chasing automatic promotion. Many will say that it's too soon but in football you get nothing for prevarication (to stray from or evade the truth, it's ok i didn't know either -  Ed).

That also goes for Kris Commons and his contract. Clearly he wants an improved contract and that may break the wage structure the board has set. Do we let him go in January instead of an improved contract? It’s all about ambition.

Probable Team:

Fielding

Brayford ,Leacock, Barker, Moxey

Bailey, Savage

Green, Cywka, Commons

Kuqi

Subs - Deeney, O’Brien, Roberts, Pringle, Doyle, Addison

Current Squad

No.     Position     Player

1    Keeper         Stephen Bywater

2    Defender     John Brayford

3    Defender     Gareth Roberts

4    Midfield     Paul Green

5    Defender     Shaun Barker (vice-captain)

6    Defender     Dean Leacock

7    Striker     Steve Davies

8    Midfield     Robbie Savage

9    Striker     Shefki Kuqi (on loan from Swansea City)

10    Midfield     Kris Commons

11    Midfield     Stephen Pearson

12    Striker     Chris Porter

13    Keeper         Saul Deeney

14    Defender     Russell Anderson

15    Midfield     David Martin

16    Midfield     James Bailey

17    Defender     Jake Buxton

18    Midfield     Ben Pringle

19    Striker     Tomasz Cywka

20    Defender     Miles Addison

21    Defender     Dean Moxey

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)

30    Keeper         Ross Atkins

34    Keeper         Frank Fielding (on loan from Blackburn Rovers)

35    Midfield     Jeff Hendrick

36    Defender     Kallum Keane

37    Midfield     Ryan Connolly

38    Midfield     Medi Abalimba

39    Defender     Mitchell Hanson

Leicester

"I think we were a little lucky but we showed a lot of character to chase the equaliser at the end," said Sven Goran Eriksson to the Leicester Mercury.

Eriksson was talking after Leicester rescued a draw with a last minute penalty - scored by ex-Ram Steve Howard.

It was a controversial penalty - and unlucky for the Blades who had fought back from an early Leicester strike.

Leicester seem to have a problem scoring - despite the bizarre statistic that they have more shots on target than any other team. Though what statisticians constitute as a shot on target is anybodies guess.

Eriksson is pleased with the way Leicester have stabilized since he took over. They were in the relegation places and now have progressed up the league to 17th.

"We are getting better and better and more and more confident. We are able to keep the ball better and I want to see the team go on playing as we did."

Current Squad

No.    Position    Player

1    Keeper        Chris Weale

2    Defender    Robbie Neilson

3    Defender    Aleksandar Tunchev

4    Defender    Michael Morrison

5    Defender    Miguel Vítor (on loan from Benfica)

6    Midfield    Moreno

7    Striker        Paul Gallagher

8    Midfield    Matt Oakley (captain)

9    Striker        Steve Howard

10    Midfield    Andy King (vice-captain)

11    Midfield    Lloyd Dyer

12    Striker        Matty Fryatt

13    Keeper        Conrad Logan

14    Striker        Martyn Waghorn

15    Defender    Bruno Berner

16    Defender    Kyle Naughton (on loan from Tottenham Hotspur)

17    Midfield    Dany N'Guessan

19    Midfield    Richie Wellens

20    Defender    Michael Lamey

21    Keeper        Carl Ikeme (on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers)

22    Midfield    Yuki Abe

23    Midfield    Franck Moussa

24    Defender    Curtis Davies (on loan from Aston Villa)

25    Defender    Jack Hobbs

26    Defender    Tom Parkes

27    Midfield    Jorrin John

28    Striker        Ashley Chambers

29    Midfield    Liam Moore

30    Midfield    Aman Verma

31    Striker        Jeffrey Schlupp

32    Defender    Greg Cunningham (on loan from Manchester City)

33    Striker        Leon Crncic

37    Striker        Darius Vassell

41    Keeper        Robert Ambrusics

What the bookies think

Leicester are 21/20 on favourites for this game while the Rams are at a tempting 13/5. The draw is at 23/10 ... Hey wait - that's the same odds as the Ipswich game! Clearly the bookies don't watch the TV highlights

Matty Fryatt and Martyn Waghorn are both at 5/1 for the first goal while Kris Commons is at 7/1. He's at 50/1 for a hat-trick. It has to happen sometime.

Steve Howard is at 11/2 to score.

Information for travelling fans

Driving

Take the M1 south to J21. Follow the A5460 into Leicester until you pass under the railway bridge then turn right into Upperton Rd and then right again into Filbert St. You can see the new ground from here.

Or go on the train - it's a 15 minute walk.

Parking

There's on street parking or park at the rugby club. Just don't plan to get out quickly.

Drinking

If you go on the train you'll probably get herded into the Hind by the station.  There are a few other pubs in the city centre. Sometimes the bar at the stadium is closed for this fixture so don't expect to get served in the ground.

Mick's prediction

Even though we keep winning it's still hard to believe.

Optimism is growing among the fans and expectations are getting higher, at the same time I imagine that Clough is working hard to keep the players feet on the ground.

It would be good to get a result against the Foxes - I think the Sven factor is still growing at the Walkers.

Leicester 1-1 Derby

Photo: Action Images



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