Derby County attempt another recovery after two defeats; in midweek the Rams fell 2-0 at Hull City, whilst Barnsley gave their season a boost by thrashing DirtyLeeds 5-2.

Barnsley v Derby County

Oakwell, Barnsley

The npower Championship

Saturday, 18th September 2010, 3:00pm

Barnsley v Derby – Historical:

P 26 W 9 D 5 L 12 F 25 A 38

Last game at Oakwell:

 10 April 2010 Barnsley 0 – 0 Derby County

Barnsley  7/24  P 6 W 3 D 1 L 2 F 12 A 11

Leading scorers:    Adam Hammill (3)

Derby   22/24  P 6 W 1 D 1 L 4 F 6 A 10

Leading scorers:  Kris Commons (2)

The Rams:

Reports suggest that the Rams were considerably better against Hull than they were against the Blunts. Some even suggest we were unlucky to lose - but lose we did and the season is beginning to take on a familiar pattern.

Shaun Barker is clearly carrying an injury and Dean Leacock is taking time to recover the form we know he's capable of. Couple that with the rest of the team learning a new system and we're bound to get punished.

What's the answer? I like the football being played under the new system. It's far more attractive than the lump it and hope we've had in the past. The problem is that it's currently not creating many chances - and worse we've had nobody capable of taking what chances we have.

There's such a thing as trying to force square pegs into round holes. Some of the players we have aren't capable of playing in the roles that the management is trying to get them to play - okay when players are fit they should be able to slot into the roles - but in the meantime we need to play to the strengths of the players we have.

It,s early season and points are not that important yet - but, plenty of teams have been relegated because they've lost all of their confidence trying to be pretty.

Mick's Team:

Bywater

Brayford Leacock Barker Moxey

Bailey Green

Cywka Bueno Commons

Kuqi

Subs – Deeney, Roberts, Buxton, Savage, Martin, Doyle, Pearson

Current Squad:

No.  Position  Player  

1 Keeper   Stephen Bywater  

2 Defender  John Brayford  

3 Defender  Gareth Roberts  LFT

4 Midfield  Paul Green  

5 Defender  Shaun Barker (vice-captain)  

6 Defender  Dean Leacock  

7 Striker  Steve Davies  Injured

8 Midfield  Robbie Savage (captain)  

9 Striker  Shefki Kuqi (on loan from Swansea City)  

10 Midfield  Kris Commons  

11 Midfield  Stephen Pearson  Injured

12 Striker  Chris Porter  Injured

13 Keeper   Saul Deeney  

14 Defender  Russell Anderson Injured

15 Midfield  David Martin  

16 Midfield  James Bailey  

17 Defender  Jake Buxton  

18 Midfield  Ben Pringle  

19 Striker  Tomasz Cywka  

20 Defender  Miles Addison  Injured

21 Defender  Dean Moxey  

23 Striker  Conor Doyle  

25 Defender  Mark O'Brien  

26 Striker  Callum Ball  

27 Striker  Alberto Bueno (on loan from Real Valladolid)  

32 Keeper   James Severn  

35 Midfield  Jeff Hendrick  

36 Defender  Kallum Keane  

37 Midfield  Ryan Connolly  

38 Midfield  Medi Abalimba  

39 Defender  Mitchell Hanson  

Barnsley FC:

Not a good time to be taking on the Tykes. Fresh from a 5-2 win over Leeds and unbeaten at home. Only QPR have scored more goals than them.

One crumb of comfort for travelling Rams is that they are also conceding goals. Only Preston and Hull have conceded as many. Mark Robins is aware of this and has warned against complacency. Speaking to the Barnsley Chronicle he said;

“I don’t want the situation where a great performance isn’t followed up and we let ourselves and the supporters down,”

“We want to put on another good show and get another three points.”

Hugo Colace may return to the squad otherwise it will be unchanged. That means Nathan Doyle may be on the bench but Jay McEveley should start. 

Current Squad:

No.  Position  Player

1 Keeper   Luke Steele

2 Defender  Bobby Hassell (vice-captain)

3 Defender  James McEveley

4 Defender  Jason Shackell (club captain)

5 Midfield  Nathan Doyle

6 Defender  Stephen Foster

8 Midfield  Jim O'Brien

9 Striker  Garry O'Connor (on loan from Birmingham)

10 Midfield  Goran Lovre

11 Midfield  Martin Devaney

12 Keeper   David Preece

14 Midfield  Adam Hammill

15 Defender  Kieran Trippier (on loan from Man City)

16 Striker  Liam Dickinson

17 Striker  Jamil Adam

18 Striker  Jerónimo Morales Neumann

19 Midfield  Jacob Butterfield

20 Midfield  Hugo Colace

21 Striker  Michael Boulding

22 Defender  Luke Potter

23 Midfield  Diego Arismendi (on loan from Stoke City)

24 Striker  Reuben Noble-Lazarus

26 Defender  Conor Branson

27 Striker  Andy Gray

28 Midfield  Danny Fearnehough

29 Midfield  Alistair Taylor

30 Striker  Steven Bennett

What the bookies think:

The Tykes are 6/5 favourites while the Rams are rank outsiders at 12/5. The draw is at 11/5. Gary O’Conner is the favourite to score at 5/1 while Jay McEveley is at 12/1.

Kris Commons is our favourite at 13/2 while Shefki Kuqi is 7/1. Long odds. Clearly the bookies don't think we'll be troubling the scorers.

Information for travelling fans:

Driving:

It’s about 60 miles to Barnsley. Take the M1 north to J37 and then take the A628 towards Barnsley. You can’t miss the ground on the right. The train station is around ten minutes walk from the ground however and I would take the train.  

Parking:

If you get there early enough there’s plenty of street parking otherwise park at the Metrodome Leisure centre - you can also get a drink there. 

Drinking:

Footballgroundguide.com recommends the Hollywell Inn on Oakwell Rd near the old Barnsley brewery. The Outpost on Sheffield Rd is also popular. Another option is to get a drink at the Metrodome which has a bar - although the last post may sound before you get served.

Drinking in the town is not recommended especially if you are wearing colours although I've never had a problem there before. If the away end is split between home and away fans the bar is on the home side however for the visit of the Rams the full end should be allocated - having said that however last time I went to Oakwell the bar was closed

Mick's prediction:

Are we going to have another relegation-threatened season or are we finally going to click into gear and get the results our football deserves? We often pull out a performance when the fans least expect it. I'm not hopeful but I wouldn't be surprised if we got something at Oakwell.

Barnsley 0 - 0 Derby County

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Here's the MatchZone link for the coverage from Oakwel:

http://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/derbycounty/fb_mb.php?m=v&t=7357#0

Photo: Action Images

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