Depending on the weather, Derby will entertain Scunthorpe United - though anyone who thinks this will be ‘entertaining' will need a very low entertainment threshold.

Derby County v Scunthorpe United
Coca Cola Championship
Pride Park - Derby
9th January 2010 - 3:00 pm

Scunthorpe:

Current League Position: 21/24
Leading scorer: Hooper 7lg 1cp
Manager: Nigel Adkins
Kit home: Claret & Blue Shirt/White shorts
Kit away: light blue Shirt/dark blue shorts
Last game: Scunthorpe 1 - 0 Barnsley

Quotes from the manager:

Scunthorpe Defender David Mirfin in the Scunthorpe Evening Telegraph;

"I wouldn't say it's a six-pointer, it's a bit too early, if it was March or April then definitely, but it is still a big, big game for us."

"It's a massive game because of league positions. The cup is gone for now and we are just aiming at the Derby game, which is the start of a massive run for us through until the end of January."

 "With the cup game against Barnsley the pressure was off a bit, but we still had to work hard to get a good result and it was a performance we can build on."

Current Irons squad:

No. - Position - Player
1 Keeper Joe Murphy
2 Midfielder Andrew Wright
3 Defender Marcus Williams
4 Midfielder Sam Togwell
5 Defender Kenny Milne
6 Defender Cliff Byrne (captain)
7 Midfielder Matt Sparrow
8 Midfielder Grant McCann
9 Striker Paul Hayes
10 Striker Gary Hooper
11 Midfielder Garry Thompson
12 Defender Rob Jones
14 Striker Jonathan Forte
15 Defender David Mirfin
16 Midfielder Martyn Woolford
17 Striker Ben May
18 Midfielder Michael O'Connor
19 Midfielder Josh Wright
20 Defender Jordan Spence (on loan from West Ham United)
21 Defender Jake Picton
22 Keeper Josh Lillis
23 Keeper Sam Slocombe
24 Striker Matthew Godden
25 Striker Peter Winn
26 Defender Niall Canavan
27 Midfielder Ian Morris
28 Defender Rory Coleman
29 Striker Adam Boyes
30 Defender Andy Crosby
31 Defender George Friend (on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers)
— Midfielder Ian Baraclough
 
The Rams:

Quotes from the manager:

Nigel Clough speaking in the Derby Evening Telegraph;

"Our main aim is the Championship and if we can have a bit of a Cup run, that will be very good. It will be important confidence-wise and financially."

"We've got two big homes games coming up. If we can win both, that could go a long way to sorting us out for the next three or four months. It will go a long way to improving our season."

"So the priority now is to get those two results."

Current Rams Squad:

No. - Position - Player
1 Keeper Stephen Bywater
2 Defender Paul Connolly
3 Defender James McEveley
4 Midfielder Paul Green
5 Defender Miles Addison (vice-captain)
6 Defender Dean Leacock
7 Midfielder Lee Croft
8 Midfielder Robbie Savage (captain)
9 Striker Rob Hulse
10 Midfielder Kris Commons
11 Midfielder Gary Teale
12 Striker Chris Porter
13 Keeper Saul Deeney
14 Defender Shaun Barker
15 Striker Luke Varney
16 Midfielder Stephen Pearson
17 Defender Jake Buxton
18 Midfielder Ben Pringle
19 Midfielder Lee Johnson (from Bristol City until 31 Jan 2010)
20 Striker Steve Davies
21 Midfielder Dean Moxey
22 Midfielder Arnaud Mendy
23 Defender Mark O'Brien
26 Midfielder Lee Hendrie
28 Defender Mitchell Hanson
29 Striker Greg Mills
33 Striker D. J. Campbell (from Leicester City until 31 Jan 2010)
34 Keeper Ross Atkins
35 Striker Callum Ball
-- Defender Nicky Hunt(from Bolton Wanderers until 7 Feb 2010)

What the Bookies think:

Home Win: 4/5
Draw: 23/10
Away win: 11/4

First Scorer: Porter, Hulse 5/1; Hopper 7/1

Information for travelling fans:
 
Driving: Scunthorpe to Derby is a relatively easy journey - in normal weather. Take M181 to M180 then pick up the M1 south to J25 A52 (Brian Clough Way) head towards Derby and you will see the ground on your left after about 5 miles. There are signs to the parking areas.

Parking: 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 is 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 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:

Wrap up warm for this one folks - it's going to be cold and there probably won’t be much heat coming off the pitch.

Robbie Savage and Jay McEveley are available again after suspension. I doubt that J.Mc will get back in the side unless it's at the expense of Buxton however it will be interesting to see if Robbie Savage will make it back into midfield.

Nigel has a lot of faith in Savage and I suspect Green (who is not performing) will make way for him. That said I'd prefer to see Green with Pearson & Johnson in midfield, with Kris Commons as the creative outlet. I know Nigel prefers to wingers but so far Teale & Croft have proved useless in providing ammunition for the strikers.

Hulse I would also leave out. He's not doing anything at the moment and Porter holds the ball up better. Playing Hulse & Porter together seems redundant and as Dickov seems to have gone back to Leicester, it'd probably be better to play DJ off Porter. I suspect that Porter & Hulse will start however.

Mick's Team:

Bywater, Hunt, Buxton, Addison, Moxey, Green, Johnson, Commons, Pearson, Porter, Campbell - Subs: Teale, Croft, Barker, Hulse, Davies, McEveley, Savage

Prediction:

We lost to Doncaster & Blackpool and struggled against Millwall. We did okay against Newcastle but it remains to be seen if we can rediscover some form.

We lost 3-2 at their place and we were poor on the day. They aren't a good team and we need to win so I'm going for the win.

2-0 to the Rams.

Photo: Action Images

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