The Rams return home in desperate need of point to release the pressure that is building. Unfortunately their opposition are unlikely to make that task easy.

Derby County vs. Swansea

Saturday 12th March 2011

Pride Park - Derbyshire

P 19 W 10 D 2 L 7 F 45 A 29

Last game at Pride Park

20 Feb 10    Derby 0 - 1 Swansea - (goal scored by Kuqi)

Current Form:

Swansea - 2/24 P 36 W 19 D 6 L 11 F 490 A 32

Leading scorers: Sinclair (16lg5cup)

Derby -   19/24  Derby P 36 W 11 D 7 L 18 F 44 A 50

Leading scorers:  Bueno (4), Cywka (4)

The Rams

I'm sure I could find some quotes from Nigel Clough as to how we were unlucky in the Boro game. Probably along the lines of "they should have been down to 10 men." or blaming the final score on a particular player ... But you’ve probably already read this and got as annoyed as me.

Team at Boro:

Fielding

Brayford Barker Ayala  Roberts

Doyle Addison Green Pearson

Ward Robinson

This line up for the game at Boro which lead to the following;

Possession

Middlesbrough 54% Derby 46%

Attempts on target

Middlesbrough 7 Derby 0

Attempts off target

Middlesbrough 1 Derby 1

Corners

Middlesbrough 6 Derby 4

Fouls

Middlesbrough 7 Derby 6

Not one attempt on target. Clough replaced Ward with Porter and Doyle with Ben Davies but not one of our forwards managed a shot on target.

Why?

What has happened to the team that looked so good in our pre-Christmas purple patch?

Team from Purple Patch:

Fielding

Brayford Barker Leacock Moxey

Savage Bailey

Commons Cywka Bueno

Kuqi

You had Kuqi who could hold the ball up bringing in the three attacking forwards. That relieved the pressure on the defence so Brayford & Moxey could get forward to support the strikers and midfield. Result was we created more and scored more.

For whatever reason, Clough did not rate Kuqi. He sold Moxey & Commons and seems to move heaven & earth to accommodate Pearson - a player only he seems to rate. He monitored Ben Davies for 18 months without spotting that he wasn't a Championship player and fell out with Cywka.

He says that Bueno can't play in a 4-4-2 (the most common formation in football - it's like claiming a fish can't swim).

The fans may be protesting against the board (and rightly in my opinion) and say that they haven't backed Clough. That is all well and good and may be true but would they still be supporting the manager if his name wasn't Clough?

We are currently just above the relegation zone and other teams - Coventry & Middlesbrough for example - seem to be being dragged into the mire. But I can't see where the next point is coming from and there are ten games for one of the bottom three to get their act together and escape.

It would be awful for an already promoted (or play off bound) Forest to relax on the final day and let Scunthorpe send us to League 1.

Possible team

Fielding

Brayford Addison Ayala Roberts

Bueno Savage Green Davies B

Davies S Ward

SUBS: Duke Robinson Porter Cywka Davies S Bailey

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 (club captain)

10    Striker        Jamie Ward (on loan from Sheffield United)

11    Midfield    Stephen Pearson

12    Striker        Chris Porter

13    Keeper        Saul Deeney

14    Defender    Russell Anderson

16    Midfield    James Bailey

17    Defender    Jake Buxton

18    Midfield    Ben Pringle

19    Striker        Tomasz Cywka

20    Defender    Miles Addison

21    Defender    Daniel Ayala (on loan from Liverpool)

23    Striker        Conor Doyle

24    Midfield    Arnaud Mendy

25    Defender    Mark O'Brien

26    Striker        Callum Ball

27    Striker        Alberto Bueno (on loan from Real Valladolid)

28    Midfield    Ben Davies

29    Midfield    Jeff Hendrick

34    Keeper        Frank Fielding

Swansea

Like us, Swansea is looking over their collective shoulder - they are fearful of dropping into the play-offs rather than League 1 however.

1 point from their last 2 games has left them hanging onto the second automatic promotion place by the tips of their fingers. Only goal difference is keeping in form Norwich below them.

Joe Allen issued a rallying call to his Swansea team mates;

"We have 10 cup finals but the prize is there and there a lot of teams playing for it - so we'll have to make sure we're at the top of our game to achieve that."

Swans fans will be mindful that they missed out in the play-offs two seasons ago and failed to make the play-offs last year. Allen went on;

"Obviously in previous years we've been in the position where we've been playing for the grand prize. And both times we have missed out."

"We have talked a lot amongst each other and we want to make sure that we don't let each other down."

Swansea may have Garry Monk and midfielder Andrea Orlandi available now they are back in training and of course they have Luke Moore who seems nailed on to score against us after his loan.

Current Swan Squad:

No.      Position     Player

1      Keeper         Dorus de Vries

2      Defence     Ashley Williams

3      Defence     Neil Taylor

5      Defence     Alan Tate (vice-captain)

6      Midfield     Ferrie Bodde

8      Midfield     Darren Pratley

9      Striker     Craig Beattie

10      Midfield     Andrea Orlandi

11      Striker     Cedric van der Gun

12      Midfield     Nathan Dyer

14      Striker     Stephen Dobbie

16      Defence     Garry Monk (captain)

17      Defence     Albert Serrán

19      Striker     Luke Moore

20      Midfield     Shaun MacDonald

21      Midfield     Scott Sinclair

22      Defence     Àngel Rangel

24      Midfield     Joe Allen

25      Keeper         Yves Makabu-Makalambay

27      Midfield     Mark Gower

28      Midfield     Thomas Butler

29      Midfield     Ashley Richards

31      Midfield     Lee Lucas

34      Defence     Joe Walsh

35      Defence     Daniel Alfei

37      Midfield     Leon Britton

38      Defence     Jamie Grimes

What the bookies think

The Swans are 11/10 favourites while the Rams are a 13/5. The draw is at 9/4.

Scott Sinclair    5/1, Luke Moore    6/1, Stephen Dobbie 6/1, Craig Beattie    13/2 and Cedric Van Der Gun at 7/1 are all a better odds than Jamie Ward & Theo Robinson for the Rams.

The bookies have heard how bad we are.

Information for travelling fan

Driving

It's a fair hike from Swansea to Derby. About 138 miles all told. Take the M4/M5/M6 and A38 to Derby. Take the A6 turn-off for Derby and the ground and away parking are signposted.

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

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 very good 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

We've got to have some luck sometime and we quite often save our best performances for teams who we don't seem to have a chance against. My head says this will be a heavy defeat played out at a rapidly emptying Pride Park.

My Heart as always hopes for different.

Derby 1 - 0 Swansea

Photo: Action Images

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