 Friday, 11th Sep 2009 10:55 Back to the Championship after the international break, can the Rams blunt the Blades? Derby County v Sheffield United Sheffield United: Current League Position: 7th Quotes from the manager: Speaking in the Sheffield Telegraph; “I probably need one or two more, another striker and another defender. "I want to go with quality rather than quantity, [and] it’s about getting the right ones and right now it's more important not to lose anyone to injury.” Following Paddy Kenny’s nine month drug ban; “The commission accepted he didn't take the drug for performance enhancing, it was a course of tablets to relieve his chest - so we're a little surprised he's been done for nine months. I don't understand the length of the ban.” Current Blades Squad: No. Position Player The Rams: Quotes from the manager: From the BBC Following the Forest game; "We restored a little bit of pride in the second half with an exceptionally good performance and there are positives we can take from the game". "We had a go in the second half and if you are going to go down then you go down fighting and that's what we did.” Talking about our centre half pairings to the Derby Telegraph; “Shaun Barker and Dean Leacock have played a number of practice games now, so that's made a big difference to their match fitness,” Current Rams Squad: 1 Keeper Stephen Bywater What the Bookies think: Home Win: 11/8 Information for travelling fans: Driving: It’s about 50 miles to Derby from Sheffield. Best route is M1 South to Junction 25. Take the A52 Brian Clough Way to Derby and the Stadium is on your left as you arrive in Derby. You can take the ring road to the London Rd area for Parking or stay on and park at Pentagon Island as described below. Parking: You can die of old age waiting to get out of the parking areas around the ground, and there aren’t that many either. A better place to park is the Cattle Market car park at the end of the A52 by the Pentagon Island. This is about 10 minutes from the ground. You can park near the Navigation Pub on London Rd if you follow the parking signs but again, don’t plan to get away quickly. 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 okay as well if a little on the expensive side. 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: The Blades are probably the first team we will meet this year who are expected to be challenging for honours. Despite performing well for some of most games, we're still alarmingly fragile at the back. We conceded three goals against both Forest & Scunthorpe. Despite fighting back in both games, we simply cannot expect to gain anything from games when we let ourselves down so badly at the back. The main problem seems to be Connolly who the opposition seem to target from the off as the weak point. Although Buxton does not look out of pace in the Championship, his lack of pace lets him down badly - especially if he's covering for Connolly. Now Dean Leacock & Shaun Barker are fit, it's probably time for them to start a game. Miles Addison has done well at centre half and is our leading scorer (!) so I would not expect him to be dropped, however I feel that Buxton should make way for Barker. Another possibility would be to move Barker in place of Connolly and start with Leacock. Lee Hendrie & Paul Dickov will probably start from the bench however I would not be surprised to see Hendrie replace Pearson if we play with a four man midfield against the Blades to accommodate Kris Commons in a 4-4-2. This will be a tough game. Hopefully Hendrie & Hulse will want to get one over their former team. Possible team: Bywater, Connolly, Barker, Addison, Moxey, Hendrie, Savage, Green, Commons, Croft, Hulse Subs: McEveley, Dickov, Teale, Deeney, Buxton, Leacock, Pearson Prediction: Derby 2-1 Blades Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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