One of the nicest guys ever to wear a Derby shirt is back at Pride Park this weekend. Though he might not be playing. 

Derby County v Barnsley

Coca Cola Championship

3:00pm, 20th March 2009

Pride Park, Derby

Darren Moore was a colossus at centre half in our promotion season and never put a foot wrong in the Play off final against his former club.

Indeed, Moore was so popular with Baggies fans that many of them thought “Big Dave” would throw the game.

Moore is a proper role model for young footballers and is active in the Christian charity Faith and Football. Along with Linvoy Primus, Moore walked the Great Wall of China to raise money for children's charities. They are planning a charity bike ride between Primus’s old clubs to raise more money.

In 2004 Moore received an award for 'Outstanding Contribution to Grass Roots and Community Football Projects' as part of the PFA's 'Let's Kick Racism Out of Football' campaign.

A succession of injuries means Moore is doubtful for tomorrow as both us and Barnsley try to put a few more points on the board before the international break. They currently lie in 19th place on 43 points – 7 points form the total Nigel Clough believes is the minimum safety margin.

The Tykes did themselves an enormous favour in midweek with an excellent 3-1 victory over Palace at Oakwell. Goals from Jamal Campbell-Ryce, Michael Mifsud and an own-goal sealed the win and dumped Forest in the relegation places.

Boss Simon Davey was pleased with the result, particularly as the Tykes went behind, but warned his players about complacency;

"We went behind after a mistake from Stephen Foster but the way we bounced back and the character we showed was fantastic. I think we know what we need to do to stay in this division. We have to stay focused as a team and management. "We're not out of danger but we know what we have to do."

Adam Hammill (ankle) faces a late test while fellow loanee Andranik Teymourian is available after a ban and Dennis Souza is included despite refusing to be on the bench after he was dropped.

Speaking about the rift, Davey said;

“It's been dealt with now and we move on. He is in contention to face Derby.”

Tyke’s facts

The Rams

Nigel Clough might have wished Darren Moore had stayed at Derby. Commenting on the performance of the defence on Tuesday in the 4-2 defeat by the Blades he said;

“Until we can defend at a reasonable level, then that's going to be the pattern I'm afraid. We have to improve to try and make it a little harder for the opposition to score. "The first three from our point of view were very, very poor goals."

It’s now seven games since we kept a clean sheet (Plymouth) and a staggering 47 since we had a no score draw. What is the problem in defence?

We seem to struggle with set piece deliveries or crosses in from the wing. No matter who is present at centre half, the ball seems to fall to the opposition rather than being dealt with.

The full-backs seem to struggle with the job of preventing the cross in the first place.

The best Derby defenders, such as McFarland, Todd, Wright, McGrath, Stimac etc all seemed to have a positional sense, allowing them to seemingly always be in the right place to intercept the incoming ball.

The current team do not and its tempting to blame the keeper in that as he’s facing forward, he should be able to see what’s happening and direct his defence – much like Peter Shilton did.

Having said that, it doesn’t seem to matter who is in nets, the problem persists – and has done under the last 3 managers. Perhaps it’s time to get in a defensive coach?

There’s no reports on injuries other than Luke Varney’s return to fitness. Kris Commons was looking at this as a return game but at the time of writing there is no update.

Mick's Team: Bywater, Albrechtsen, Todd, Nyatanga, Connolly, Teale, Bannan, Savage, Barazite, Commons, Hulse

What the Bookies think

The Rams are favourites for this one at 8/11 while the Tykes are at 16/5. The draw is 9/4.

Rob Hulse is again favourite to score at 5/4 while the rest of our strike force are at 6/4.

Daniel Bogdanovic is favourite for the Tykes at 11/4 while leading scorer Jamal Campbell-Ryce is at 5/1.

Information for travelling fans

Driving: It’s 51 miles to Derby from Barnsley via the M1. Come off at J25 for the A52 Brian Clough Way to Derby. The ground is on your left as you enter Derby and the away parking areas are signposted. 

Parking: It used to be at the old Wilmorten College site however that is now a housing estate so away fans should 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 for a £5 at the hospital further up London Rd near the hospital and the Railway station. Another alternative if you follow the above route is to head around Pentagon Island to the Cattle Market Car park. It’s about 10 minutes walk to the ground from here.

Drinking: 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

 3-1 against Palace suggests that we may find this tough. At their place we played really well for 70 minutes and then gave up. We could do without a repeat performance.

Photo: Action Images

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