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Preview -  Bristol City v Derby County
Preview - Bristol City v Derby County
Friday, 15th Aug 2008 15:40

But for the cruelty of the play-offs, the Robins would be plying their trade in the Premier League.

Bristol City v Derby County

Coca-Cola Championship

16th August, 2008, 5:30 pm

Ashton Gate, Bristol (live on SKY TV)

 

Gary Johnson’s team were very much the nearly men of last seasons Championship. They finally finished fourth in last seasons Championship. They overcame a strong Crystal Palace side in the play off Semi’s before losing 1-0 at Wembley to Phil Brown’s Hull.

 

 Johnson strengthened the team in the summer by breaking the club record for Nicky Maynard from Crewe (£2.25m). He has also added Gavin Williams from Ipswich.

 The Robins won their opener and progressed in the cup midweek. They left it late in both games: Steve Brooker popped up to score the winner in the 85th minute against Peterborough after the Robins had gone behind earlier. Last Saturday, Brooker also scored the winner in the final minute of the game at Blackpool after coming on as a late substitute.

 Gary Johnson looks to have taken up where he left off last season. After the Blackpool game he said:“Blackpool at home always is good opposition and we had to work hard, throwing ourselves in front of things. A team at home on the first day of the season is always going to chuck everything at you. They were out to impress the crowd. We hung on in there and I needed to change the mentality a bit at half-time. It livened us up a bit and got us into the other half. “ 

Sadly for Robin’s fans, they’ve seen the last of promising youngster Christian Ribeiro this season. The Welsh Under-21 international was stretchered off 26 minutes into his debut on Tuesday, and taken to hospital for scans. The scans revealed damaged anterior ligaments and he will need an operation. 

Gary Johnson said:

"Everyone is gutted for Christian. It's hard luck on the lad."  Johnson is looking forward to this game, he went on; “It's a massive game, one of the fixtures you were looking for when the fixtures came out. "Their pride will be hurt, coming into this division after being a Premier [League] club and getting beat by Doncaster. "They will know that there are some very good footballing teams in the Championship and you have to be right on your game to get a result.”  Former loan Ram Michael McIndoe may feature for the Robins along with the enigmatic goalscorer Lee Trundle. 

Current Robins Squad

     

No.Position            Player
1 Keeper Adriano Basso
22 KeeperChris Weale
32 KeeperStephen Henderson
2 DefenceBradley Orr
3 DefenceJamie McAllister
4 DefenceLiam Fontaine
5 DefenceJamie McCombe
6 DefenceLouis Carey (captain)
24 DefenceChristian Ribeiro (injured)
27 DefenceJordan Walker
7 Midfield Scott Murray
8 MidfieldDavid Noble
11 MidfieldMichael McIndoe
14 MidfieldCole Skuse
17 MidfieldIvan Sproule
18 MidfieldBrian Wilson
19 MidfieldJennison Myrie-Williams
20 MidfieldGavin Williams
25 MidfieldMarvin Elliott
33 MidfieldLee Johnson
9 Striker Steve Brooker
10 StrikerNicky Maynard
15 StrikerDele Adebola
23 StrikerLee Trundle

  Robins Statistics 

Last 5 games

 

 Crystal Palace 1-2 Bristol City  Bristol City 2-1 Crystal Palace Bristol City 0-1 Hull

Blackpool 0-1 Bristol City

 Bristol City 2-1 Peterborough

 

Since a: 

Clean sheet 0

Goal 0

Loss 2

No score draw 8

Score draw 15

Win 0

Leading scorer: Steve Brooker (1 League, 1 Cup)

 

The Rams

 

At 1-0 down with 7 minutes to go, Paul Jewell was probably staring down the barrel of a gun. Defeat to Lincoln might not have cost Jewell is job straight away – but the knives would be out and the boo’s would be getting louder.

 

The Regular Radio Derby Moan-in was full of calls for Jewell’s head. Many who were at Pride Park last Saturday felt that 33 games without a win and a new team displaying the same frailties as the last one was the final straw.

 Paul Jewell himself couldn’t hide his relief at his first win (albeit in extra time), he told BBC Radio Derby: “Only time will tell but I think we've turned a bit of a corner. One win isn't going to make a massive amount of difference but it could be a springboard and you can see the relief in the players in the dressing room.” 

Confidence could be the key issue here. Although the team is new, it still retains several of last year’s under-performers, the crowd is the same and so is the manager. The anxiety of the crowd, manager and some players may have got to the team after we went behind. Paradoxically then, the reduced crowd on Tuesday may have helped. If the smaller crowd wasn’t on the player’s backs, it might have helped Ellington shake off his earlier miss. Once he scored his scrappy first goal, he visibly grew in confidence and took his hat-trick well. 

 It’s a pity that Rob Hulse didn’t score. Some fans are saying he’s off the pace and looks like a poor mans Steve Howard. That’s possibly unfair but his link up play and ball winning has been poor so far. Villa seemed to play better with Ellington and if Jewell persists with 4-4-2 at Ashton Gate, Villa may start alongside Ellington.  If Jewell opts for 4-5-1 then Robbie Savage or Dean Leacock may make an appearance in midfield with Ellington or Hulse as the target man.  

Mick’s Team: Caroll, Mears, Albrechtsen, Davis, Stewart, Commons, Green, Davies, Perepļotkins, Ellington, Villa 

 What the bookies think

 

The Robins are 6/5 favourites for this game while the draw is at11/5 and the rams at 9/5.  You can get 6/1 on Dele Adebola and Nicky Maynard to score their first goals while leading scorer Steve Brooker is also at 6/1

 

The Duke is our favourite at 13/2 while our other strikers are at 7/1. You can get 50/1 on a Duke Hat-trick

 

Information for travelling fans

 

Drinking: It’s changed a bit since the Rams were last there. The Robins Pub which is very near the away end now has a strict home fans only policy. That’s true of most of the pubs near the ground – The Hen & Chicken, BS3, Quba Ice bar and the Ship & Castle.

 

Footballgroundguide.com recommends the Pumphouse and the Nova Scotia near the waterfront. Another thing to consider is that alcohol is not available inside the ground

 

Parking: There isn’t that much parking to be had. The ground itself is by permit only and the nearest car park car park on Ashton Vale Road only has 400 spaces so arrive early.

 

There is street parking to be had but again – arrive early.

 

Driving: It’s 140miles to Bristol however with the late kick off; you should have time for a lie in and a leisurely drive. Take the A42 exit of the southbound M1 and stay on it until it becomes the M42. Follow to the junction with the M5 then take the M5 south until junction 18. Follow the signs for Bristol Airport/Taunton along the A4 Go over the swing bridge (Brunel Way); taking the left into Winterstoke Road and the ground is on your left.

 

Mick’s Prediction

 

You never can tell with the Ram - have they turned the corner? The game is likely to be played in front of a smaller crowd and only the most faithful of the Derby crowd will travel. Ashton Gate is a good ground for getting behind the team and with the right encouragement and a bit of confidence and luck, Paul Jewell might get his first win.

 

On the other hand, there could be more corners ...

Make your prediction here: 

 http://www.clubfanzine.com/derby_county/v2.predictionleague.php

 

Photo: Action Images



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