Sheffield Wednesday 0 Derby 0

We are reaching that pivotal point of the season when the cream begins to rise to the top of the Championship table. Teams can get to the top of the table in the first half of the season, but one injury to a key player during the busy Christmas period can spell disaster if there's no one to replace them - case in point being Derby last season. Already this season we can see a group of five teams springing clear of the rest of the field leaving a melee for the final play-off spot, with one of these teams being Sheffield Wednesday.

I have to admit I wasn't sure what to make of the Owls going into the match, partly because I haven't really seen them in action. They've had some impressive performances this season, particularly at home; beating Arsenal 3-0 in the Capital One Cup and holding unbeaten Brighton to a 0-0 draw. In fact, their only loss at home this season came courtesy of the Rams fellow promotion chasers Middlesbrough in August. On the other hand they lost 3-1 to Charlton, a team seemingly destined for League One. It was very much a case of wondering which Wednesday team would turn up.

Wednesday Head Coach Carlos Carvalhal (Ed Sykes)

Derby made two changes from the team that swatted aside Hull more than a week earlier with Lee Grant replacing the injured Scott Carson in goal and Bradley Johnson replacing Jeff Hendrick in midfield. It's not quite clicking for Hendrick at the moment - he's playing well enough to fill in when someone get suspended or injured but not quite well enough to force his way into the team - but I'm sure he'll get more opportunities to impress over the festive period.

The match kicked off and it was clear that Wednesday's Head Coach Carlos Carvalhal had done his homework with  Lucas Joao and Fernando Forestieri taking turns man marking George Thorne. Saying that, the match that followed could have been very different if an early decision had gone Derby's way. In the third minute Thorne lofted a superb through ball towards Andreas Weimann who had sprung the Wednesday offside trap and with only goalkeeper to beat, he was pulled up by the Linesman's flag. Replays showed that he was onside and an early chance was gone. That was Derby's warning and the team from Yorkshire took note and reacted. No longer was Thorne to be allowed time on the ball and it showed as Wednesday took control of the game.

Bradley Johnson chases the ball (@dcfcofficial)

For all of their dominance though, they lacked a real cutting edge up front as Derby moved back into their defensive shape, packing the middle of the park. Forcing the Owls out wide, the onus was on their wingers and full backs to put in some high quality crosses for Joao to get his head on and to their credit they did. The only problem was the immovable object that is Jason Shackell was there every time. This pattern was repeated again and again, so much so that I think Shackell might have lost a few brain cells over the course of the 90 minutes.

Wednesday were restricted in general to long shots. Shackell headed the ball clear and it fell to Ross Wallace (who seems to have been around forever), who smashed a looping half-volley that Grant palmed over. Not the best save in the world, but a tricky one to make none the less. Derby had a poor first half going forward, but defensively were so solid, I didn't doubt for one second we would finish the game with a clean sheet.

The game opened up a bit more in the second half, with Clement having told his players to be more proactive. Johnson headed the ball over from a free kick, when he really should have hit the target. Then came the one time in the match Wednesday got the ball on the floor in our box. Shackell was drawn out wide to clear the ball, which fell straight to an opposition player. Joao picked the ball up and played it into Forestieri, who then shuffled the ball bagged to him. Joao's snapshot was blocked by the returning Shackell and the ball fell to Pudil, who shot wide. Midway through the half, Derby broke with Weimann working the ball out wide to Chris Martin who then fed the ball into Johnson. His curling shot was at a nice height for Westwood to make his first save of the afternoon.

Chris Martin challenges a Wednesday player for the ball (@dcfcofficial)

Clement then decided to wring the changes with Darren Bent and Johnny Russell arriving to help find a breakthrough. Bent nearly made an immediate impact; Martin flicked on a long ball and Bent started chasing. Put under pressure Glen Loovens passed the ball back to Westwood and Derby had an indirect free kick in the box. Johnson took charge and cannoned the ball off the underside of the bar, with Westwood plucking Martin's follow up out of the air. Down at the other end, Loovens got free of Shackell at a corner but planted his header wide. In the final minute of injury time, Martin looped a ball to Bent who returned it and Martin smacked the ball wide - it wouldn't have counted even if it had gone in, Bent as he so often is, was offside.

So full time and a dull game mercifully ended. I was impressed with Sheffield Wednesday; they were very well drilled, knew exactly when to press us and every player knew where they ought to be when not on the ball. That being said, they didn't carve us open (but then again, who has this season). I was impressed with Liam Palmer who bombed up and down the right wing all day long, very much like Cyrus Christie and Forestieri was his usual nippy, annoying self. They're a good bet for the play-offs I'd say if they can perform like that on the road.

Player Performances

Lee Grant - Only had one save to make and had all the others covered. His distribution could have been a little better, but he did everything that was asked of him.

Cyrus Christie - Good defensively, forcing his man out wide again and again. Mixed going forward, he was manfully covered by the tireless Barry Bannon, but was still able to get some joy down that flank.

Richard Keogh - Had a tough game as more often than not Joao took up residence on his shoulder and made his life difficult. Unable to bring the ball out of defence as often as he would've liked, but his main job is defending and he did that well.

Jason Shackell - Absolutely superb, his best performance since he returned to the club. Dealt with everything they lobbed in the box, and made a cracking block to make up for one of his errors.

Stephen Warnock - Had a very good first half, but I do still worry about some of his passing. On more than one occasion he put the team in danger with loose passes behind his man, nearly allowing Wednesday to counter.

George Thorne - Was marked out of the match really. That third minute through ball was superb, but he was shutdown after that. He'll have to learn from this and find a way round it in the future as more teams take notice of him.

Jacob Butterfield in action on a mixed afternoon fro him (@dcfcofficial)

Jacob Butterfield - Tried to make things happen, but was ineffectual. Wasn't near enough to Martin to make any sort of impact going forward. Should be on notice, because Hendrick and Bryson are breathing down his neck.

Bradley Johnson - Looked most likely to get a goal for us and his added bite in midfield helped us no end. He'll be dissappointed he only hit the bar for the free kick, but we still look better with him in the team.

Tom Ince - It's been the tale of his season really, double marked out the game. Defensively, as ever, he's doing well, but it's still just not clicking for him. He was poor in terms of his effect on the game and I don't think it's a coincidence that we did better after he went off.

Andreas Weimann - If he hadn't been given offside in the first minute, things would have been so different. Worked hard as ever, but some of his control left something to be desired.

Chris Martin - Ineffectual to say the least, he was far too isolated. With no one up there to pass to, how is he meant to keep the ball. To be fair Wednesday's midfield and defence combined well to shackle him.

Johnny Russell - Worked hard as usual, but he needs to stop trying to hit the ball past players. The opposition are getting wise to it.

Chris Baird - Came on at left back, which is nowhere near his best position. Did well enough, made no glaring errors.

Darren Bent - How many times this season am I going to day he changed the game. He may have been offside half the time, but we looked so much better with him on. He'll force his way into the starting eleven soon enough.

Parting Thoughts

• We got the point without playing anywhere near our best and even then, only the woodwork and a dodgy offside stopped us taking all three. This bodes well for the rest of the season.
•  The difference Shackell has made to this defence has been amazing - whereas last season we looked like conceding every match, now we don't. The fact we have the bet defence in the league tells it's own story. 
•  We aren't the free flowing team we were under McClaren, but that's no bad thing. If you want to get up to the premier league and more importantly, stay there, you have to build from the back and that's what Clement is doing.

Nottingham Forest 1 Derby 0

If there is one thing everyone should have learnt over the past couple of seasons, it's that you can never predict how The East Midlands Derby will pan out. A couple of seasons ago Derby thrashed Forest 5-0 despite having not scored in the preceding 4 matches and last season Forest won 2-1 having not won in 8 games. It's that old cliche - 'form goes out the window' when it comes to local Derby's.

Before this encounter you would have struggled to find teams in more different form; Derby were on a 10 game unbeaten run, having won 8 of those whilst Forest hadn't won in 8 matches and were beginning to slip perilously close to the relegation places. Going into the match, Paul Clement made 2 changes from the team that pushed QPR aside in midweek; Stephen Warnock replacing the injured Craig Forsyth and George Thorne taking Jacob Butterfield's place in central midfield. I can't help but feel that Butterfield was a tad unlucky to be left out after playing well in midweek, but Thorne is one of those players who comes in automatically if he's fit.

As the game got underway under the floodlights I noticed that there were several thousand empty red seats around the City Ground, a sign of unhappiness at results on the pitch one can only assume. Forest started brightly, buzzing around Derby like Wasps to a rotten apple, not allowing anybody in a white shirt the time to settle on the ball. In the first minute former Ram Jamie Ward jinked his way past Warnock and fired the ball into Nelson Oliveira (on-loan from Benfica) who killed the ball on the spot. The onrushing Johnny Williams (on-loan from Crystal Palace) then charged onto it and proceeded to tumble under the challenge from Thorne. The referee then, much to the chagrin of the home crowd booked Williams for diving and the replays proved this to be the correct decision with Thorne's swinging boot going nowhere near him.

Nelson Oliveira celebrates his goal (Joesph Raynor)

Forest's early endeavour was rewarded in the 4th minute when they took the lead, although to say it was avoidable is an understatement. Chris Martin's stray pass was picked up in the Forest half and they proceeded to swarm forward. The ball was worked to Oliveira who's blocked first shot came straight back at him. At the second time of asking he moved the ball onto his left foot and his low shot was deflected by the sliding Richard Keogh and past a helpless Scott Carson in the net.

It was a punishing counter attack and one that would be repeated time after time over the rest of the evening, with varying degrees of success. Ward's left footed curling shot was tipped round the post by Carson after a neat give-and-go with Oliveira and Matt Mills had a goal from a corner disallowed for pushing in the box. At the other end much of Derby's play was looking laboured with Jeff Hendrick being the only man to try and work an opening, constantly looking to turn with the ball and run at the heart of the Forest defence. This would normally be great apart from the fact that the rest of the attack would do nothing to help him in these situations. Every single supporting run, whether it be from Russell or Andreas Weimann, was in a straight line making it easy to defend against. Saying that, Hendrick did clip the top of the crossbar with a curling 25 yard strike and Warnock whipped in a teasing cross that just eluded Chris Martin.

Other than that though, the first half was a tale of shots going high, shots going wide, shots going everywhere but in the net. The teams were unchanged going into the second half, but one would have expected at least a change in attitude from the Derby players, and we got one. Just not the right one. Whereas in the first half there was some urgency going forward, the same could not be said in the second half.  The passing was sloppy and every player was looking to take one to many touches on the ball. ON the red half of the pitch, Forest doubled down defensively, moving into 2 defensive banks content to let us have the ball, safe in the knowledge that we probably weren't going to do anything with it.

Matt Mills' header would be disallowed for a foul on Jason Shackell (skysports.com)

To put it mildly, the second half was a bit of a bore fest with the only real chances of note coming at Carson's net. Danile Pinillos was given the freedom of Derby's penalty area to just waltz in and fire the ball across net where Ryan Mendes (on-loan from Lille) was waiting to pounce. Somehow Warnock was able to get back and swipe the ball clear from under Mendes' feet. Mendes then produced a darting run with the ball, played a 1-2 with Henri Lansbury and received the ball in the box with no one near him. His scuffed shot however, did his run a disservice and was saved by Carson's outstretched leg.

All in all, a poor day at the office for Derby. I was impressed with Forest's willingness to make life difficult for us going forwards; pressing as a team and forcing us wide time and time again where they knew we would be less dangerous. Again, in attack they were also much more willing to gamble and their quick, snappy passing made life difficult for us. I was impressed by their loan players, especially with Oliveira and Mendes. Oliveira had a touch of class about him with his hold up play, whilst Mendes is exactly the sort of player who thrives in this league where raw pace can get you a long way. On the other hand, I can also see why they haven't scored many this season, most of their shots came from outside the box and when they got inside they were reluctant to shoot. The perfect example of the latter being when Warnock was able to nip the ball away from Mendes; all the winger had to do was step towards the ball and it would have been a certain goal. Defensively they were well drilled, but then again, having taken an early lead they were under no pressure to leave gaps for us to exploit.

Paul Clement tries to get his point across (nottinghampost.com)

Player Performances

Scott Carson - On first viewing I thought he could have done better for the goal, having been beaten at his near post. However the reply put me straight, showing the deflection off Keogh, nothing he could have done. Made some fine saves against Ward and Mendes, with a moment of madness when he tried to control the ball under pressure.

Cyrus Christie - A mixed bag to be honest. Going forward he was his usual aggressive self, but his decision making got worse and worse as the match wore on. Had a hard night defensively against Mendes and was largely nullified when Ben Osborn came on in the second half.

Richard Keogh - There's no doubting his passion and he was a little unlucky that the goal deflected off him. However, he was given the run around by Oliveira and his passing wasn't up to his usual high standards.

Jason Shackell - Marshalled the defence well for the most part and Oliveira wisely targeted Keogh for most of the night. His poor backpass for Carson nearly embarrassed the goalkeeper, but he got a lucky escape in that case.

Stephen Warnock - In the past I've slated him, but I have to say, I think that was his best performance in a Derby shirt. After a nervy first couple of minutes where Ward skinned him, he upped his game with the highlight of the match being his last ditch clearance to deny Mendes.

George Thorne - I think he'll be the first to admit he didn't have the best of games. Didn't break up opposition counter attacks like he normally does and some of his passing was off range. He wasn't helped by the fact that Forest dropped so deep when he picked up the ball, leaving no space for him to find runners.

George Thorne competes with Ryan Mendes for the ball (Getty Images)

Jeff Hendrick - Had a superb first 30 minutes, looking threatening every time he moved forward and clipping the top of the bar with a 25 yard shot. After that though, when it became clear he was our main threat Dougie Freedman stuck two men on him and he was taken out of the game. Had a quieter second half, but I think he was unlucky to be substituted.

Bradley Johnson - Wasteful. Time and again he would pick the ball up in promising positions and then take and extra touch, or shoot when the better option would have been to keep the ball moving. I thought he was lucky to stay on the pitch  for the full 90 minutes as even his defensive contribution was pretty poor.

Johnny Russell - I don't think I've ever seen such an up and down performance. On one hand, his set piece deliveries were great and we should have taken advantage of those. But on the other, he constantly took one too many touches and his passing was abysmal, too often putting the receiver in danger or just giving the ball away and allowing Forest to spring the counter. Worked hard as he always does, but lucky to stay on as long as he did.

Andreas Weimann - It's matches like this where I feel sorry for Weimann. A striker pushed out to be a winger, because we don't player 2 up front and his pace was never really used. Indeed as Forest dropped deeper and deeper, he became more and more ineffective. Tried hard and made some good runs, but his first touch still leaves something to be desired.

Chris Martin - You could have been forgiven for thinking he wasn't playing today. Got no change whatsoever out of Mills and Jack Hobbs and in all honesty, needed a strike partner to try and free up some space for him. It was no coincidence he suddenly saw more of the ball when Darren Bent came on.

Tom Ince - Tried to make things happen and run with the ball. We did look better after he came on and his directness caused panic a couple of times in the Forest defence. Needed to be on the pitch longer though to have a greater impact.

Jacob Butterfield - Was unfortunate to drop to the bench and even more unfortunate not to get on the pitch sooner. Played a couple of lovely through balls while on and I think he'll get more game time as the season goes on.

Darren Bent - In all honesty, this game was crying out for him from the moment Forest scored. With Martin not seeing any of the ball, we desperately needed another presence up front to help share the load. We finally moved to two up front when he came on and looked so much better for it, finally stretching their back four. Looked dangerous when he came on and had an understanding with Martin that suggests we may see more of them together in the future.


Parting Thoughts

• I've heard some people saying that the disallowed goal should have stood. Obviously as I'm a Derby fan I'm a little biased, but I think it was the right decision. Shackell who was marking Mills was tackled to the ground by Hobbs, clearly impeding his ability to compete for the ball. Some might argue that this sort of thing happens all the time and referees don't punish it, but that doesn't change the fact that it's a foul. 
• I can't help but feel that this was the perfect game for Craig Bryson to come on and reintroduce himself to those of us who have forgotten how good he can be. His darting runs in behind Martin would have opened up more room in which he could work and he lives for these sort of matches.
• From what I can gather (and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong here Forest fans), that was Forest's best performance of the season. I'm certain that was one of Derby's worst performances of the season; as a team nothing really seemed to click. So the fact that these two teams were polar opposites in terms of performance and there was still only one goal in it is interesting. Just an observation. 
• On the whole though, I can have no complaints. It was obvious that they just wanted it more than us and I'm sure Clement would have actually learnt a lot from this match with regards to both individual players and tactically. 

 Edit: I originally stated that Johnny Russell made the stray pass leading to their goal. This was incorrect, it was in fact Chris Martin.

Left Back - Clement's Problem Position?

We are now 13 games into the season and things appear to be clicking for Derby. After losing to Leeds in late August, Paul Clement's side have gone 8 games unbeaten, winning 6. A grand total of 20 points from a possible 24 suggests that things a finally clicking on the pitch, with this being backed up with some superb performances - the ones against Wolves and Huddersfield being my personal favourites.

At the same time Clement has also found consistency in his team selection. The midfield and forwards have been largely unchanged since the transfer window snapped shut, as has Scott Carson's position as Clement's preferred shot-stopper, with changes only being made when injuries reared their ugly heads. The defence has also been largely unchanged with Cyrus Christie cementing his place as first choice Right Back alongside Richard Keogh and Jason Shackell.

The only position that it appears is still up for grabs is Left Back where Stephen Warnock and Craig Forsyth have shared the role thus far. Now anyone who knows me in the outside world knows I much prefer Forsyth as a LB to Warnock. Indeed I'm sure looking back over the short history of this blog you can probably find some not so subtle hints of this. It appears that Clement doesn't share my doubts, having started Warnock in 5 matches this season and starting Forsyth in the remaining 8. It made me curious; what does Clement see that I don't?

Stephen Warnock controls the ball (Andy Clarke)

Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics
How can you prove a certain player performs better than another? Clubs have been using stats for the better part of 2 decades now to help try and gain a cutting edge and an insight into potential improvements. So I pulled up the data for all the matches played by Warnock and Forsyth in the Championship this season, courtesy of WhoScored.

Going purely on physical attributes it would appear that Forsyth wins out over Warnock every time - he's taller, stronger, quicker and younger. Forsyth's 6' 2" frame gives him a significant height advantage over Warnock and pretty much every opposition winger he'll come up against. This shows in the stats where he wins on average 2 aerial challenges for each one lost, compared to Warnock who actually loses more aerial challenges than he wins. Warnock also seems to lack the stamina of Forsyth; in 2 matches he was substituted with cramp - perhaps a sign of his age catching up with him. Forsyth on the other hand hasn't missed a Derby match due to injury since he signed from Watford.

Paolo Maldini (Yelena Rybakova)

Defensively, it's tough to choose between them. On one hand, Warnock makes more tackles than Forsyth, with an average of 3 per match compared to 'Fozzy's' 2.8 per match, but he is also dribbled past more often. This would come as no surprise to people watching the team regularly; Forsyth is a difficult player to get past, often forcing players down the line where he then blocks the cross. Warnock on the other hand is far more prone to diving in, often in an attempt to win the ball after a poor first touch. Something about this strikes me as naive; it's the sort of thing inexperienced players do in their eagerness to make an impact, not at all what one would expect from a former England international. Xabi Alonso summed up my thinking best when he said this - "tackling is a last resort". Paolo Maldini, probably the best defender of his generation was a master at not needing to tackle the opposition.

 The obvious difference between the 2 though is going forward. In his 5 matches Warnock has barely moved over the half way line, but the one time he did he set up Bradley Johnson to open the scoring against MK Dons. Compare this to Forsyth who charges forward with glee, providing an overlap for the winger in front and firing crosses into the opposition penalty area. These varying styles explain the differences in pass success between our 2 resident LB's. Forsyth attempts more passes than Warnock, but a higher proportion of these are forward passes and more likely to be intercepted as a result.

One area 'Fozzy' definitely excels at compared to Warnock is at 'Key Passes'. To avoid confusion, a 'Key Pass' is defined as a pass or cross leading to a shot on goal, which is a much better indicator of how effective a player is in the opposition third than counting assists. Warnock averages just over 1 'Key Pass' every 2 games whereas Forsyth averages nearly 2 per match; a huge increase. All offensive stats favour Forsyth.

Craig Forsyth moves forward with the ball (Andy Clarke)

In fairness to Warnock, when he has played it has looked as if he has been told to stay back and shore up the defence allowing Christie on the other side to go forward. However his passing forward with the ball leaves much to be desired; he often hesitates passing forward and by the time he sees the pass the opposition have often cut off the opportunity. To put it bluntly, Warnock is the place where forward momentum dies; 9 times out of 10 a pass to him will end up with him passing the ball to Shackell or Carson. Good if you want to keep possession. Not so good, if you want to be progressive down the wing.

Forsyth's main problem isn't a lack of willingness to get forward. His main problem is the inaccuracy of his passing when playing the ball forward, although this tends to be because he's playing ambitious passes that have high payoffs if they succeed. A nightmare if possession is at a premium, but useful if you're in a team dominating play as Derby so often are. I think it's fair to say that 'Fozzy' suits our style of play so much more than Warnock.

It's interesting to note that Warnock hasn't played 2 consecutive matches this season. He has usually played after Forsyth has played 2 matches in a week - perhaps Clement has concerns about Forsyth's fitness. This is just conjecture though; if I truly knew the mind of Paul Clement I'd be a manager myself, not some random know-it-all on the Internet. We'll find out if Clement agrees with me that 'Fozzy' is the man for the job as the season goes on.

MK Dons 1 Derby 3

This match is one, that in all honesty should have happened a couple of seasons ago with MK Dons threatening to make the jump up to the Championship since the days when Paul Ince was in charge. It's been a long hard slog up to this league and a couople of play-off defeats later here they are, for the firsst ever meeting between the two sides.

The starting 11's for both teams (@Ed_DawesBeeb)

Paul Clement made 3 changes from the team that drew against Burnley with Chris Baird, Stephen Warnock and Tom Ince returning to the fold replacing George Thorne, Craig Forsyth and Andreas Weimann. While I gather that Thorne had a bit of an injury and Weimann wasn't really involved in the game on Monday, I can't help but feel this was harsh on Forsyth who I don't think has put a foot wrong this season, especially defensively.

Anyway, off to the pub I went, only to find that the main match on the tele was between two little known teams called Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur and not my beloved Derby! To say I was shocked was an understatement, but I took it in my stride and settled down in a corner to watch the match on a much smaller screen, with no commentary. It was a cagey first 15 minutes or so with both teams feeling their way into the match - MK Dons were spraying the ball about with a confidence and competence belying their league position. Suddenly though the match burst into life. After neat interplay down the Derby right, Ben Reeves floated the ball towards the back post where Carl Baker beat Warnock to the ball. The ball dropped to Simon Church (who should have been called offside but wasn't), and he blasted it towards goal. Somehow, Scott Carson made a point-blank save and the ball was scrambled away for a corner.

Jason Shackell moves the ball on (@dcfcofficial)

This should have been the first warning shot about how this match was going to go. Everything that happened in that single move would be repeated time after time, again and again over the course of the match; whether it be the sharp, crisp MK Dons passing or the last ditch defending. As a riposte of sorts, Ince slipped the ball through to Martin who shot at the legs of former Derby loanee David Martin in the Milton Keynes net. Ince then skyed the ball over the bar when it would have been easier to hit the target, but that was as good as it got for Derby in a first half where they were given the run around by the championship newcomers.

You would have thought that given the way Derby were outfought and out thought in the first half, Clement would make changes at half time, but he didn't. Instead Derby came out with a renewed sense of purpose and after Warnock moved over the half way line for the first time in his Derby career, Derby were in front. Slipped in on the overlap by Jacob Butterfield, Warnock cut the ball back to the edge of the penalty area where Bradley Johnson slipped it past Martin and into the net for his first Derby goal. I wonder if I'm doing Warnock a disservice when I say that I think the ball came off by luck rather than design; it appeared that he was squaring the ball for Johnny Russell and had actually hit it behind him. Anyway, finally the break through.

Bradley Johnson (centre) celebrates his goal (@dcfcofficial)

With Derby in lead, surely no the shackles could come off and we would sweep past a demoralised Milton Keynes. Nope. Instead MK Dons roared back into life, pinning Derby into the penalty area and attacked with renewed vigour. Jake Forster-Caskey on-loan from top of the league Brighton found acres of space in between the back four and the midfield, shifted the ball onto Church who passed it to Josh Murphy. Murphy then took an age to control the ball in the box and with no hint of a Derby player closing him down fired the ball low past Carson into the net. Absolutely abysmal defending from all involved, it wasn't the first or last case in the match either.

The next let off for Derby came when a poor touch by Warnock forced him to run back towards his own goal. This on it's own is fine, but then he proceeded to fire the ball against Jason Shackell who moved forward to help him out. Ricocheting off Shackell the ball spun into the path of Church who with all the time in the world, with Murphy and Reeves to aim for and with Richard Keogh and Shackell scrambling to get back fluffed his lines. He passed it in between his teammates and the golden opportunity of the match was wasted. The storm was coming.

Johnny Russell runs onto the ball (@dcfcofficial)

Dean Lewington had a header tipped onto the post by Carson after getting the better of Keogh and Murphy was unluckily booked for diving after taking a tumble in the box near Carson. Derby were living very dangerously. Then Clement finally decided to make a change; off went Butterfield and Baird and on came Weimann and Hendrick with Derby switching to a 4-4-2 formation. Weimann made an immediate impact flicking for the onrushing Martin who moved the ball to Ince, with Ince shooting wide when he really should have hit the target. Russell then smacked the ball against the bar from distance.

One could that Derby were growing into the game having miraculously survived a 70 minute long onslaught; how much of that was down to Clement's tactical changes or just Milton Keynes tiring is up for debate. Derby's final and what in the end would be most telling substitution was to bring on Darren Bent for Chris Martin. With Derby monopolising possession a chance would always come our way and when it did it was really well worked. Ince played the ball back to Hendrick an proceeded to run off his man into space in the box where Hendrick threaded a perfectly weighted ball back into him. With one touch Ince opened up his body and played the ball across goal where Bent put the ball in the net, with Johnson queueing up behind should he miss.

With 89 minutes on the clock Derby had their noses in front once more, but there was still one more scare to come; an MK Dons corner was whipped right onto Carson, who under unfair attention from Dean Bowditch punched the ball towards his own net. Fortunately Weimann was there to poke the ball away with plenty of time to spare, not that it stopped the home supporters asking for a goal. Then in the final minute (the 96th to be precise), Ince nicked the ball after a sloppy touch from Diego Poyet, advanced on goal and confidently fired the ball into the net. 3-1 the final scoreline, but not a 3-1 performance that's for sure.

Derby players celebrate Darren Bent's goal (@dcfcofficial)

Great credit should go to MK Dons; they pressed us high up the pitch and moved forward with a tempo I haven't seen from a team since the first season of Steve McClaren's reign. Their obvious problem was finishing; to have 26 shots on goal with only 4 on target shows a huge amount of profligacy. They have everything about them to be a good team in this league; confident on the ball, pacey wingers and an astute manager in Karl Robinson. Everything except goals. I would hazard a guess and say that should Robinson receive an injection of cash Church would be one of the first players to be replaced. Although his movement and work rate are good, his decision making and finishing are poor; there is a reason he was released by a Charlton side that barely escaped relegation last year. There also seems to be a soft underbelly there; Forster-Caskey and Poyet are very lightweight combination in defensive midfield with the potetnial to be bullied and don't seem to offer much protection when they actully have to defend.

As for Derby, I think it's fair to say the term 'smash and grab' comes to mind. No Derby fan would be happy with that performance and indeed no Derby fan should be happy with that performance; a team with aspirations of getting promoted to the Premier League should be able to do the basics right such as find a Derby player 4 times out 5. This didn't happen today.

Player Performances

• Scott Carson - Very much a mixed bag today. On one hand he made some vital saves that kept us in the match and on the other his handling of crosses left a lot to be desired, especially towards the end of the match.
• Cyrus Christie - A decent performance, did well to contain the lively Murphy and didn't put a foot wrong really. Didn't get the chance to support the attack as much as he has done recently, but I think it' fair to say he's finally reached the form we saw from him at the start of last season.
• Richard Keogh - I might get a bit of flack for this but I think he was one of our poorest players today. Time and time again he was out muscled by his man on set pieces and some of his ball watching was criminal. Should have been much closer to Murphy for their goal, but wasn't so he was able to get away with a poor touch.
• Jason Shackell - As usual very vocal and dominated his men on set pieces. Struggled to deal with their movement up front, but at the same time was a calming influence towards the end of the match.
• Stephen Warnock - Made a fine assist for Johnson's goal, but that was the only time I can actually remember him going forward. Was out muscled a lot (I say this too often about him)  and showed poor awareness of his surroundings to fire the ball at Shackell from 5 yards away. I just don't see him doing anything that Forsyth can't do better. 
• Chris Baird - Back from injury so I should cut him a  bit of slack but I can't. Didn't move the ball forward as often as he should, but I can forgive that  as he's a defender by trade. What's harder to forgive is the amount of space he kept leaving between himself and the back 4. A better team would have punished us for this. 
• Bradley Johnson - What would appear to be the complete midfield performance. Helped out well when defending, passed the ball well and got a very good goal. Hopefully the first of many. 
• Jacob Butterfield - Seemed to get frustrated very easily and wasn't particularly influential. Thought he was lucky not to be taken off at half time as he was close to being sent off, but returned to play a lovely ball through to Warnock for the first goal.
• Tom Ince - Worked hard and never gave up but at times his first touch was non-existent. However, got absolutely nothing from the referee, and deserved his goal in the end, having had one incorrectly ruled out beforehand.

  

  Tom Ince celebrating his 96th minute goal (@dcfcofficial)

• Johnny Russell - Wasn't the greatest performance from Johnny. We got the usual hard work and he helped out Warnock a lot. going forward however was a different story; he struggled to get going and the only real thing of note he did in the opposition half was hit the bar. 
• Chris Martin - I feel I should be honest. This was in my opinion, Martin's worst performance in a Derby shirt, with a first touch like a baby elephant and being caught offside more times in this match than all of last season. A day to write off as a poor day at the office for him. 
• Andreas Weimann - Made a couple of nice flicks and took up some great positions in the box only to be let down by the ball in. His best contribution though was down the other end when he cleared Carson's mispunch off the line. 
• Jeff Hendrick - Much improved. Moved the ball on well and played a superb pass into Ince for the second goal. He's banging on the door for a starting spot next week.
• Darren Bent - Did what Darren Bent does best; scores goals in the box by being in the right place at the right time. He'll get more this season and I wouldn't be surprised if he starts next week. 

Parting Thoughts

• I suspect Clement may have a few big decisions to make next week with Bent having made a huge difference when he came on for Martin and Hendrick when he came on for Baird. Will he be brave enough to drop his captain to the bench? Having the armband shouldn't prevent a player fro being dropped, but we all know it somehow makes it an awful lot harder to do.
• Unlike in recent games, we were wide open at the back today and better teams would have taken advantage. If he wants to play Baird in defensive midfield Clement needs to change the formation so that Johnson sits next to him when we are defending. Thorne is the only player we have who play that role without any help from the midfield. 
• Fair play to the 3000 plus Derby fans who went to Milton Keynes, not an easy trip for such an early kick off, especially when you can watch it at home or in the pub.

Paul Clement's Excellent Adventure

With the sacking of Steve McClaren in May a job opportunity opened up in the Championship, a job that would tempt any unemployed coach. The immediate front runner was Paul Clement, the former assistant manager of Carlo Ancellotti at Real Madrid and indeed it had been rumoured that he would take over as boss even before McClaren left the club.  Therefore it was no great surprise when he was appointed Head Coach and it is the culmination of a long and very unusual route he's taken into professional football.

Steve McClaren was sacked by Derby in May 2015

The son of former England player Dave Clement, Paul was not so lucky in his attempts to become a professional footballer, not making higher than non-league, instead becoming a PE Teacher and taking his gaining his coaching qualifications. If I was being very harsh I would say he embodied the untrue stereotype that those who can't do, teach. From the age of 23 he worked both as a full time PE teacher and at the Chelsea centre of excellence. He was given his first full time job in professional football by Fulham where worked as a coach in the academy, returning to Chelsea after working for 7 years at Fulham. On his return to Chelsea he was initially appointed to the under-16's, but he quickly moved up the ladder until 2008 when the arrival of interim manager Gus Hiddink, precipitated his promotion from coaching the reserves to coaching the first team.

Although Hiddink would leave at the end of the season having won the FA Cup, Clement was kept on the staff by replacement Carlo Ancelotti. He stayed for 2 successful seasons as Ancelotti's assistant before trigger-happy owner Roman Abramovich fired the Italian. After a brief stint as Steve Kean's assistant at Blackburn, Carlo came knocking, looking for an assistant at his new club Paris Saint-Germain and Clement would follow. The famous saying "All roads lead to Rome" means that no matter what path you take you always end up in the same place. Well, in football this can be amended. For any successful person in world football, whether you are a player, a manager or a coach, the phrase is "All roads lead to Real (Madrid)". Whether that be playing for them or against them, or managing them or managing a team against them.

Paul Clement and Carlo Ancelotti at Chelsea

Afters spending 2 seasons at PSG, 'Los Blancos' came calling for  Ancelotti and his able assistant followed him. After winning the Copa del Rey and the clubs 10th Champions League title in his first season at the club things looked good for Clement and Co. However a trophyless second season guaranteed Ancelotti's sacking - if there's one thing Real Madrid don't have it's patience. With Ancelotti taking a year long break to recover from back surgery, there was now no better time for Clement to strike out on his own.

John Peacock was Clement's first backroom staff addition

Upon his arrival at Derby Clement quickly set about bringing in his backroom staff. First to come was John Peacock, leaving his role as coach of the England under-17's to become first team coach. As a player, Peacock made over 200 appearances for Scunthorpe and after his playing career finished he had a stint as Academy Director at Derby County between 1998 and 2002. The word on the grapevine was that the FA weren't happy to lose him, which speaks something about how well regarded he was in the setup.

The next arrival was former Switzerland goalkeeper Pascal Zuberbühler as Goalkeeping Coach. With most of his career appearances coming at FC Basel, he is probably most well known for being the only goalkeeper in history to not concede a goal in normal time at the World Cup in 2006. His only coaching jobs before coming to Derby were several short spells as the Goalkeeper Coach of the Philippine national team. 

Pascal Zuberbühler arrived as Goalkeeping Coach

Derby started the season with the trio of Clement, Peacock and Zuberbühler in charge of first team affairs. On paper, it's a gamble; a Head Coach with no previous experience of being top dog, backed up by a First Team Coach who main coaching experience is teaching teenagers (albeit some very talented teenagers). It does have shades of when Phil Brown was in charge - a young rookie manager backed up by an inexperienced assistant, but without the upheaval behind the scenes that was a hallmark of Brown's reign.

One thing that could be noted is that amongst the coaching staff there was not a single face that a casual football fan would be able to recognise. In fact I dare say quite a few of the players would have had no idea who any of the coaching staff were and about their pasts, which could in turn make it difficult for Clement to gain that automatic authority that any successful leader needs. Also with none of the senior staff having had any experience of top level or even Championship football there's always the possibility that specific points are harder to get across in the changing room.

Kevin Phillips arrived in September as Assistant Coach

In a move that could be seen assuage fears of miscommunication, Kevin Phillips was brought in as Assistant Coach to Paul Clement from Leicester City. Phillips has a huge wealth of experience to draw up on; he made 660 first team appearances as a player, scoring over 282 goals and winning the European Golden Shoe for the 1999-2000 season. A prolific goal scorer in his playing career he was a well liked member of Nigel Pearson's coaching staff at Leicester City and respected by the players. I'm certain that every Derby player knows who Phillips is. Yes, even the much maligned Jeff Hendrick would surely have some clue. As someone who has been around the block, seen it all and done it all, he would be the ideal candidate to get any unwelcome opinions across to the players without much backlash. 

Will this new look team be able to deal with the high expectations of the fans and more so, the high expectations of our chairman Mel Morris? There have been mixed signals so far; a much improved defence to go with a less decisive attack. Draws seem to be the flavour of the day, week and month but I'm optimistic. My optimism has been misplaced in the past - I was certain we would beat QPR in the playoffs and I was also certain we would make the playoffs last season. Time will tell, I guess.

Derby 0 Burnley 0

When the fixture list came out at the start of the season I thought that Burnley would be the the last match I would see in the flesh before leaving for university. However, Rupert had other ideas and instead I was reduced to watching the match in a pub playing early 2000's R&B songs over the commentary. So here I was, watching my beloved Derby playing Sean Dyche's Burrnley to a soundtrack consisting of Nelly and other assorted rappers. Lovely.

Derby's Starting 11 (@Ed_DawesBeeb)

Paul Clement had decided to stick with the same defence that gained the team what was surprisingly it's first clean sheet of the season against Reading. 2 changes were made though; Jeff Hendrick who was ineffective on Tuesday was replaced by the returning George Thorne, whilst Tom Ince suffered a knock in training and was replaced by Andreas Weimann. Burnley set up with their customary 4-4-2 formation full of hard workers, looking to be able to hit Derby on the break with the pacey Andre Gray up front.

I must confess, I missed the first 10 minutes of the match ordering a drink at the bar, but I can only assume nothing of interest happened as it was still 0-0 when I found a comfortable spot to settle in. It was immediately clear that this would be like every other match at the iPro this season; Derby trying to force their way through a well organised outfit. I'd expect nothing less from a Sean Dyche team.

That's not to say Burnley didn't try to attack, as Gray tirelessly chased down inaccurate balls from his midfielders. It's just that the final ball was missing. It was the same with Derby on the attack, looking for a final ball that never presented itself. indeed, the best chances for both teams would came from set pieces, with Michael Keane having a shot blocked by George Thorne and Tom Heaton swinging for and missing a few corners.

Craig Forsyth marshalls George Boyd (@dcfcofficial)

It was a fairly even first half, but the odds shifted slightly in Derby's favour when Gray tweaked his hamstring and was taken off as a precaution just before half time. He was replaced by Rouwen Hennings, a man who offered nowhere near the pace or movement that Gray did. In response Derby did the obvious thing to do when the opposition has no one to run in behind; they moved up and began pressing higher up the pitch. We only saw a couple of minutes of this before the half time whistle went, but it looked promising as Burnley were penned back.

No changes at half time, but Dyche obviously had the opportunity drill his thoughts into his players as his team came out much more well organised than they were previously. As Derby dominated possession through the controlling Thorne and the tenacious Bradley Johnson and Jacob Butterfield. However for all the possession, I have to say Burnley looked comfortable only being really threatened at set pieces. Keogh should have done better when he came charging in at the near post, flick Johnny Russell's corner high and wide. He nearly did a lot better when he met another Russell corner at the back post, his header back across goal being cleared off the line by Tendayi Darikwa. It's most unlike Derby to be dangerous from corners, but then again, you have to get them past the first man to be in with a chance; something we don't do often enough.

George Thorne competes with Andre Gray for the ball (@dcfcofficial)

As Derby set up shop in the Burnley half of the pitch the inevitable happened; a mistake in the Derby defence led to a Burnley chance. Jason Shackell dived in to intercept the ball, but completely missed it and just like that George Boyd was in the box. Sam Vokes pulled back to the penalty spot and inexplicably Boyd proceeded to absolutely leather the ball at him, giving Vokes no chance of controlling the shot, which went over.

Later on in the macth, Weimann lost his man at a throw in by the edge of Derby's box and the ball was pulled back again to Vokes, who shot tamely into the arms of Scott Carson. Apart from set piece Burnley restricted us to shot's from outside the box, with Butterfield being the main culprit, blasting high and wide time after time. Thorne had a shot from a long way out that drew a save for the cameras from Heaton whilst Chris Martin had a last minute shot tipped away.

Jacob Butterfield tries to get past Scott Arfield (@dcfcofficial)

You know how they say that sometimes a 0-0 draw can be as exciting as a 5-4 match? Well this wasn't like that; it was 2 very competent teams cancelling each other out. Burnley will quite rightly see this a good point gained, whilst Derby will see it as a missed opportunity to gain ground lost on the early season leading pack. Burnley will be up around the playoffs this season; if they keep Gray fit they'll be dangerous and with Dyche organising the, they won't begin to ship goals - at least, not like we did at the end of last season.

Performances

 Scott Carson - wasn't tested at all. Made the saves he would have expected to, claimed crosses well, but some of his kicking let him down. That's 2 games in a row his kicking has been poor.

Cyrus Christie - Seems to be growing by the game. Looked much more solid defensively than in the past, and got forward really well. Whipped in some lovely crosses, causing Heaton no end of trouble.

Cyrus Christie challenges Michael Kightly for the ball (@dcfcofficial)

Richard Keogh - Did well running the with the ball out of defence when there was no passing option. Did well when put up against Vokes for the most part, but lost his man hen Vokes fluffed his lines late on.

Jason Shackell - Can't fault him in terms of organising the defence but looked a bit off the pace at times. Dominated in the air but his mistimed interception could have and on another day would have cost Derby a goal. Also, some of his passing forward to the midfield left a lot to be desired, more often than not being intercepted by Burnley or putting the midfielder in immediate danger. Leave Keogh to be the passing defender I think.

Craig Forsyth - Nothing got past him defensively. I've said it before and I'll say it again, he's one of the best left backs in the league when it comes to actual defending. Didn't really offer much going forward, but that might be because he hasn't played with Weimann on his wing before.

George Thorne - Did what he does best; mopped up play with ease and spread it well. Controlled the match, but it was no surprise to see him go off early having just returned from injury.

Jacob Butterfield - A little bit disappointing. He found space well on several occasions only to cut inside and shoot wide instead of feeding the overlapping full back. Tenacious in trying to in back possession. Worked hard, but needs to work on his decision making.

Bradley Johnson - It's nice to have a physical presence in midfield who might not fall to pieces at a moments notice (no disrespect meant George). Much better in the advanced position he found himself today, he'll be a big player this season.

Andreas Weimann - Was full of running, harassing Darikwa at every opportunity. Got himself into good positions but the ball just didn't quite fall for him, especially when running onto Martin's flick-ons.

Johnny Russell -  Worked incredibly hard, I don't think I've seen anyone run that far since Craig Bryson was at his fittest  couple of seasons ago. Relentless tracking back helped Christie and some of his set pieces were wonderful. On the other hand, some of them were awful and his final ball was lacking. I wouldn't say it was a bad performance though, just a little uninspired.

Johnny Russell places the ball for a corner (@dcfcofficial)

Chris Martin - This was a frustrating evening for Chrissy. Battled well, often on his own against 2 aerially dominant centre backs. With balls being fired up to him at head height, he was always going to lose that battle. When the ball was played on the ground, he looked so much better. Was starved of space in the second half, with his flick-ons and late shot being the only real contributions he made in the last 30 minutes.

Jeff Hendrick - Came on for Butterfield and did exactly the same thing; had pot shots from distance. The only difference being that Hendrick got his on target. Made couple of surging runs with the ball.

Jamie Hanson - Replaced Thorne late on, so not long to impress. Was his usual nippy self while he was on the pitch.

Parting Thoughts

•  On the whole the defence looks good. The key word are 'Final Ball'. The amount of times we just can't find that killer pass is staggering. It will all click in time though.
• Thorne and Johnson will be must-haves in Clement's midfield this season. That leaves Hendrick, Butterfield and Bryson (when he gets fit) to fight it out for the final spot. That will be an interesting battle.
• MK Dons away next - another match on Sky, and an early kick off. I suspect the pubs near my flat will be making a lot of money from me this season.

Reading 0 Derby 1

Fresh on back of our morale boosting win against Preston North End, I decided on the spur of the moment to charge down south to watch Derby play Reading at the Madejski Stadium. On my drive down with a couple of friends I didn't doubt my decision, but I was beginning to wonder if it would all be worth it whilst waiting in the queue for tickets outside the stadium.

Reading themselves would have been full of confidence having battered Ipswich 5-1 on Saturday; no mean feat given Ipswich's cracking defensive record last season. It was also noticeable in that it was the first time since early April that Reading had scored in the league at home. Derby would have to be on their toes.

Derby's starting 11 (@Ed_DawesBeeb)

Paul Clement made 3 changes to the winning tam at Preston; out went the injured Chris Baird for Jeff Hendrick, with Craig Forsyth and Scott Carson replacing Stephen Warnock and Lee Grant respectively. The first 2 changes were no surprise really; Baird is essentially out for 2 weeks with concussion whilst Warnock looked exhausted after 60 minutes against Preston and had to eventually be replaced. The goalkeeper situation is interesting as it seems that Clement can't decide between Grant or Carson. They both have their strengths and weaknesses; Grant makes world class saves but isn't the best at claiming crosses, whereas Carson is the opposite, never likely the pull off a worldie but great at the basics.

No sooner had I got to my seat and the game was underway, referee Andy Davies blowing the whistle. Reading flew out the traps winning a couple of quick corners in the first couple of minutes which came to nothing, Derby clearing the ball with ease. It appeared that the tactics would be similar to Saturday, sit back deep and try to hit Reading on the break using the pace of Johnny Russell and trickery of Tom Ince. On the whole though it was a pretty dreary first half. Derby broke a couple of times, and Jacob Butterfield had 2 goal-bound shots blocked by the impressive Michael Hector and the experienced Paul McShane.

Jason Shackell competing with Orlando Sá (@dcfcofficial)

Other than that though, it was all Reading attacking-wise, but I have to be honest and say that I don't think the Derby defence was really threatened. Apart from a couple of long range shots from out wide that swerved all over the place, Carson didn't really have a save to make, and barely had to come and claim any crosses as Jason Shackell and Richard Keogh cleared them with ease.  Reading played some nice one touch passing in an attempt to play their way through the middle of the park but when it looked like there might be an opening the door was shut in their face.

Then just before half time came the turning point of the match. A long ball up from the back was cleared by Shackell  who fell too the floor under pressure from Orlando Sá. Sá's foot appeared to catch Shackell on the back as he hopped over him and Shackell was immediately up letting Sá know what he thought about it. The pair leaned  towards each other and then Sá jutted his head forward, with Shackell rearing his head back and looking at the linesman who couldn't have been more than 5 yards away. I would say that Sá's been on the receiving end of some classic kidology, but he should have known that any sort of headbutting movement would be punished by the referee. It was a shame really because it was an intriguing game up until that point, but Sá can have no complaints. 

Cyrus Christie ventures forward (@dcfcofficial)

There were no substitutions at half time but there was a clear change in the direction of the match; whereas in the first half Derby had been content to sit back and play on the counter, in the second they pushed up to the half way line taking advantage of their numerical advantage. Reading on the other hand, were all to aware of the problem they faced and as a result dropped back, barely getting out of their own penalty area.  
  
The old adage is that it's harder to play against 10 men than 11 and for a long time this was proved true. Having decided that a point would be a good result Reading shut up shop, leaving Derby to find the break through. On the whole it was a test of patience; everybody knew that a chance would come it would just bee a case of taking it. Derby spread the ball out wide and back to the middle trying to find a gap through the congested centre of the park, but Reading refused to be drawn out. Jeff Hendrick was replaced by Darren Bent who immediately set about trying to pull defenders out of position by running in behind and coming short as Derby went 4-4-2. 

The breakthrough came in the 69th minute. Bent came short dragging Oliver Norwood away from the centre of the pitch, a space which was immediately occupied by Martin. Butterfield fired the ball into Martin's feet, who then flicked the ball to the onrushing Ince who had drifted in off the wing. Ince almost overran the ball, but controlled it in the nick of time, throwing McShane off balance and poking the ball past Jonathon Bond in the Reading net. It was the only thing that went right for Ince all evening and it should do him the world of good. 
 

Tom Ince pokes Derby in front (@dcfcofficial)

Reading were forced to come out of their shell in search of an equaliser that never looked likely to appear; the only real chances I can remember them having in the second half was a header over the bar by Nick Blackman and a volley way over  by Chris Gunter. Reading will do well this season, they've added well this summer and have good strength in depth. I was particularly impressed by Hector who never looked like being beaten in the air or on the ground; Derby wisely targeted McShane as the weaker of the 2 centre backs. Stephen Quinn too, was his usual tenacious self in midfield. 

These 3 points will be valuable ones at the end of the season; it's always harder than it should be playing against 10 men. Most importantly though, we didn't look stretched defensively against a team with good striking options; Matěj Vydra has proven his class in this league in the past, but he was rendered ineffectual by Derby. This defensive solidity bodes well for this season - teams get promoted on the back of good defences. 

Performances 

Scott Carson - Did what was required. Made a couple of saves from difficult long range shots and commanded his box well. Only downside was some of his wayward kicking, particularly on his left foot.

Cyrus Christie - Appears to be Clements first choice right back now. Did very well defensively and after the break got forward to support the attack well.

Richard Keogh - Absolutely superb. Defensively solid, he was instrumental in carrying the ball out of defence in the second half; one run from the edge of his box into the opposition half stands out in the memory.

Paul Clement and Richard Keogh after the match (@dcfcofficial)

Jason Shackell - Did well to shackle (pun intended) Vydra and got under the skin of the hotheaded Sá. Could have made an arse of himself for the red card by falling over, but resisted the temptation.

Craig Forsyth - Very good. Didn't get beaten very often by the dangerous Tshibola and was a valuable outlet after half time, charging forward and supporting the attack at every opportunity.

Bradley Johnson - Didn't look comfortable at defensive midfield, he took too long on the ball and some of his tackles left a lot to be desired. However, he wasn't afraid to throw his weight about and we've needed that for a while. Looked better when moved forward after Hanson came on.

Jeff Hendrick - Made some good runs forward but the game seemed to pass him by. didn't get long in the second half to impress before he was hooked for Bent.

Jacob Butterfield - Tenacious in defence in the first half, but didn't get on the ball often enough. Came to the fore in the second half when he was able to turn on the ball and look for balls to thread through the Reading defence.

Tom Ince - I can't help but feel sorry for him. It's obvious that he's working hard both in defence and in attack but apart from the goal, absolutely nothing came off for him. He's a marked man, but while this is the case we should take advantage of of the space he'll create for others.

Johnny Russell - Wasn't the irrepressible player he was against Preston but he still offered n outlet. On more than one occasion he weaved is way through the Reading defence only for the final ball to not quite work out.

Chris Martin - Was outfought in the first half by the massive Hector, wasn't helped by the head height balls going up to him. In second half did well dropping deeper to try and pull Reading defenders out of position. Lovely ball for Ince's goal.

Darren Bent - Did well. Looked a threat from the moment he came on with his movement. Invaluable movement for the goal to create space.

Jamie Hanson - did okay replacing Butterfield. Picked up a daft booking and panicked a couple of times, hoofing the ball clear. Was disciplined in his position allowing Johnson to move forward.

Andreas Weimann - Worked hard when he came on, but didn't really have enough time to impress.

Parting Thoughts

• It's a nice feeling to not be worried every time the opposition come forward like I have been in previous seasons. This new defensive solidity is a far cry from the end of last season.
• Bent showed why he's always useful to have around, pulling players out of position. He'll get plenty of chances this season to score goals.
• 2 goals and 1 assist this week for Martin, proving why for me he's one of the best strikers in the Championship, as if 20 goals in each of the past 2 seasons wasn't enough proof.  

Preston 1 Derby 2

I was in the unusual position yesterday of actually being able to go to an away match - these days only come about once in blue moon for me, so I eagerly grasped the opportunity to be stuck in traffic on the M6 for well over an hour. The things we do to support our club.

Upon arrival in Preston, I discovered our starting 11:

    Derby's starting 11 (@Ed_DawesBeeb)

So, 5 changes from the team that slumped to defeat against Leeds. George Thorne, or 'Gorgeous George' had not recovered from his injury against Leeds and as a result our captain Chris Baird was to deputise in holding midfield. As a result, in came Cyrus Christie at right back with Stephen Warnock arriving in place of Craig Forsyth at left back. Surprisingly as well, Lee Grant was given a starting position in goal, replacing Scott Carson. Out also went Jeff Hendrick and Jamie Hanson, for deadline day arrivals Jacob Butterfield and Bradley Johnson.

Barely having got to my seat, the match started. There were the usual opening exchanges with each team feeling out the other, with it quickly becoming apparent that Derby were not going to dominate possession like we normally have. The team seemed happy to drop back deep and only press when Preston ventured towards the box. How much of this was pre-planned by Clement is hard to say, but I suspect it was partly forced by personnel changes; with Thorne injured and Will Hughes out for most likely the rest of the season, we lack someone who can dominate the midfield. In choosing Baird to fill the Thorne-shaped hole in midfield Clement went for experience instead of the youthful exuberance of Hanson. With two new additions in midfield with someone who is by trade a defender, it was always unlikely that we would win in the possession stats; the understanding between players required for that to happen hasn't been built yet.

Paul Clement was forced into making changes to his starting 11

Preston set up with a 3-5-2 formation, looking to overwhelm Derby in midfield and for the most part it worked. One of the drawbacks for them however was that when Derby broke down the wings their wing backs were unable to get back in time. Russell in particular, terrorised Preston captain Tom Clarke, giving a masterclass of incisive, purposeful running in the first half. Although in Clarke's defence, the wing back in front of him, Marnick Vermijl, gave him no protection whatsoever. Compare that to the opposite wing where Tom Ince, who I'm sure everyone will agree is a far more talented player than Russell, wasn't given an inch of space by Greg Cunningham. 

Derby's first goal came from a classic counter attack  with fortuitous beginnings. Shackell sliced a clearence straight to Russell who proceeded to charge around Clarke and over the half way line. He then launched a superb 30 yard, cross field ball right in to the path of the oncoming Chris Martin. Martin's first touch killed the ball and hee then rolled the ball under the keeper. A lovely goal, a perfect example of how to counter attack and remarkably the first time Derby have taken the lead this season. 

As always happens after a team scores a goal, Derby immediately went in search of another. This time Ince received the ball and proobabbly should have shot straight away wwith his right foot, but he opted to wait for the onrushing Johnson, who's poked effort drifted wide. After this, the first half bacame a game of cat and mouse, with no team really looking like breaking the other down. Preston's best bet was to get the ball to the lively Daniel Johnson who's forays down the Preston left were promising. Indeed, after cutting inside he lashed the ball towards goal but it was deflected into the arms of Grant. A warning shot. 

New signing Bradley Johnson (@dcfcofficial)

Before half time, Derby had a second goal. Russell again was the supplier, galloping from his own half of the pitch after picking up a loose ball. It seemed that sooner or later a Prston player would get in the way, but it didn't happen; he just kept running straight through the midfield towards the understandebly terrified Paul Huntington. After spinning Huntington, Russell was brought down and Derby had a free kick from the edge of the 'D'. Martin immediately stomped over, placed the ball down and blasted a curling shot towards the far corner. Such was the pace on the shot I'm not suure the keeper would have saved it even if he'd seen it coming. 

Chris Martin blasts in a free kick (@dcfcofficial)

Half time came and went with no incident, although just after the break Preston made changes; Stevie May on for Vermijl and Eoin Doyle on for the anonymous Will Keane. This change signalled a change in formation that threw Derby of balance, with Preston going 3 up top, forcing Derby deeper. Matters weren't helped when Clement took off Butterfield for Hendrick, opting to increase the physicality of the midfield. Instead, Derby found it even harder to find and hold onto the ball. 

Simon Grayson then made his final throw of the dice, bringing on winger Chris Humphrey for John Welsh. Preston took control, but did not really threaten Grant's net until late into the second half. Joe Garner's snapshot hit the post and rebounded into Grant's arms, and a Doyle shot on the turn was superbly turned round the post. 

With 8 minutes to go, Baird and Garner clashed heads in the Derby penalty area and a lengthy stoppage ensued. An unconscious Baird would eventually be stretchered of the pitch and taken to hospital where he was later given the all clear. This left Derby in an awkward position as at this point Clement had uused all of his substitutions, with Andreas Weimann and Craig Forsyth having replaced Ince and Warnock respectively. 

Having to play the 13 minutes of stoppage time with 10 men, Derby battened doown the hatches. In the 5 minute of injury time, Weimann had the chance to wrap up all 3 points but his powerful shot from the edge of the area was too close to the keeper and it was pushed away. It looked like Derby might be punished for this when, with several minutes to go a shot by Johnson was deeflected into the net by Shackell, but Derby held on to take the spoils. 

Jacob Butterfield congratulates Chris Martin (@dcfcofficial)

A vital win. Even though the performance wasn't the greatest, those 3 points will go along way to settling people down and taking some pressure off Clement's shoulders. To be honest though this is the game we should be winning if we want promotion this season. It looks a bit grim for Preston I have to say; they have a lack of pace at the back and their defence doesn't look comfortable playing the ball out from the the back. To make this worse they don't appear to have the physical presence up front to allow them to play it long which is what will happen if teams wise up and press them high up the pitch. However, I understand Jermaine Beckford wasn't fit for them and if he get fit his goals could fire them to safety. 

Performances

Lee Grant - Looked confident, pulling off the types of saves we've come to expect from him and claiming crosses. Was helpless for the goal, there's nothing you can do about those.

Cyrus Christie - A bit of a mixed bag really. On one hand he tried hard too support Ince going forward, but his crossing  left a lot to be desired. Defensively, he did reasonably well, but he showed Johnson inside too often instead of forcing him out to the touchline. 

Richard Keogh - Did well against a nippy Joe Garner who gave up competing with Keogh for the ball after about 20 minutes. As usual put his body on the lin, but it seemed as if he was panicking towards the end of the match (I'll give him the benefit of the doubt on this one, I was to far away too bee completly sure).

Jason Shackell - Dominated Garner when he moved away from Keogh. Did very well to keep his cool as he kept getting sly digs from th Preston number 14 when the referee wasn't looking.

Stephen Warnock - Did okay, wasn't really tested defensively. Didn't go forward at all, in fact, I don't think he left the Derby half all match. At times, was muscled off the ball far too easily for a man of his build and experience. 

A combination of Lee Grant and Stephen Warnock clear the ball (@dcfcofficial)

Chris Baird - Did what he was expected to do, marshalled the defense and gave the ball to more talented ball players when given the chance.


Jacob Butterfield - I was impressed with what I saw. He looked comfortable with the ball on either foot (a rare talent these days) and willing to try risky passes in the opposition third. Not sure why he was taken off, but it's no coincidence we struggled to keep the ball after he went off.  

Bradley Johnson - Looked good, willing to run forward without the ball and provide Martin with support up front. Snapped into tackles, not afraid to throw his weight about annd certainly not afraid to shoot. One thing I could perhaps say is that on several occasions he was sow to get back and cover in midfield. In particular, for Johnson's goal, he should have been there to block the ball, before it reached Shackell.

Tom Ince - A frustrating afternoon for the talented winger. He was doubled, even tripled up on for parts of the game, but on the other hand he should have released the ball quicker on several occasions. He looks a player short of confidence, but at the same time, he's tracking back and putting a shift in. Things will click in time. 

Johnny Russell - If that cross for the first goal had been done by Rooney, we'd never hear the end of it. Absolutely superb vision and technique. His decision making was also much improved than ver the past couple of weeks. Understandably tired in the second half. 

Johnny Russell takes on Tom Clarke (@dcfcofficial)

Chris Martin - Gave a masterclass in the target man role up front, giving all 3 of Preston's centre backs a game single handedly. Whether he was dropping deep or running beyond, he had them grasping at thin air at times. Superb taken goals, especially the first one, making it look easy to control that type of ball on the run. He should be taking free kicks from now on.

Jeff Hendrick - Looked a bit off the pace when he came on, struggling to keep the ball. Made one good run to set up Weimann for a shot towards the end of the match, but by and large the game passed him by.

Andreas Weimann - tried hard when came on, eager to impress. Should have done better with his chance.

Craig Forsyth - not really on the pitch long enough to make an impact. 

Parting Thoughts

• Have Derby been struck by a gypsy curse stating that all midfielders will get injured this season? By my count, in 6 league games this season Derby have had to make 7 enforced changes in midfield during the game due to injured players. 
• I really like the new 3rd kit. In fact I like all the kits this season, it's just a shame about the sponsors logo. 
• I can't believe there were people saying we should sell Russell in the summer. He's really proving his worth so far this season, with Ince not currently providing the goods on the opposite wing.