3/1 To Win
The second part of a big week sees Derby County’s Under-23s head to Leigh Sports Village to face Manchester United this evening.
The Rams take on the Red Devils aiming to return to winning ways (kick-off: 7pm) and ahead of the meeting, dcfc.co.uk has pulled together all the information you are going to need to know ahead of kick-off…
WHAT’S THE LATEST TEAM NEWS
There are doubts over the fitness of Emil Riis Jakobsen ahead of this evening’s game.
The Danish forward came on as an early substitute in the 1-0 defeat to Everton earlier this week, but came off himself in the second half after injuring his ankle.
He left Pride Park Stadium with his ankle heavily strapped and as a result could miss out on the visit to Leigh Sports Village.
Kyle McAllister will still be missing due to injury too, but Darren Wassall, should, once again have a similar squad to call upon.
SETTING THE SCENE
Derby County’s Under-23s head to Manchester United off the back of just one win from their opening five Premier League 2 Division 1 fixtures.
Intriguingly, tonight’s opponents find themselves in the same boat.
Ricky Sbragia’s side have not managed to win since their opening day victory over Leicester City, but two draws, against Swansea City and Chelsea, are keeping them narrowly afloat of the bottom two spots.
The Rams, now, go into tonight’s game looking for a return to winning ways after losing to Swansea (5-2) and Everton (0-1) – the latter earlier this week.
Darren Wassall’s side enjoyed two entertaining meetings with the Red Devils last term.
After narrowly losing 3-2 late on at Old Trafford a year ago, Derby turned on the style to claim a 5-3 win at St George’s Park – one of the notable results as they retained their Premier League 2 Division 1 status.
Speaking about the game, Ethan Wassall, the defender who has started all of the Under-23s’ fixtures so far this campaign, says there is no reason to fear United.
He also feels that results will start to turn in the Rams’ favour if they continue to perform in the manner that they have done since the start of the season.
Wassall told RamsTV: “We were all disappointed after the Everton game, but it’s gone and our focus quickly turned to Friday night.
“We have proved over the last couple of seasons that we can compete against these big teams and we have done well against Manchester United.
“There’s no reason for us to have any fear going into the match. We know they are a good side, we aren’t going to underestimate them by any chance, it is Manchester United after all, but we know we can compete at this level and we’re looking forward to it.
“At the moment, we are facing a similar story to last season. That’s not what we wanted, obviously, but the performances have been there.
“Take the first half out against Everton, we have performed very well against the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea, Sunderland and Swansea.
“If we keep going as we are – providing we can start better – then things will turn.
“The performances have been to a high standard, so our aim has to be to stick with it because we know, as they did last year, things will turn for us.”
HOW CAN I ATTEND?
Derby County supporters wishing to support Darren Wassall’s side take on Manchester United at Leigh Sports Village can do so FREE OF CHARGE.
Turnstiles on the night will open at 6pm, whilst the Red Zone Café is open for food and drinks from 5.30pm.
WHAT HAPPENED LAST TIME?
DERBY COUNTY U23s 5-3 MANCHESTER UNITED U23s
Monday 6th February, 2017
Derby County’s Under-23s produced their standout performance of the season to date as they swept aside Manchester United with a convincing 5-3 victory at St George’s Park back in February.
The Red Devils did open the scoring early doors through Callum Gribbin, but the Rams refused to lie down and fought back to lead 2-1 at the interval through Alex Babos and Timi Max Elsnik.
From there, Darren Wassall’s men took their display up another level and struck three further times in a devastating five-minute spell through Elsnik, Kellan Gordon and Emil Riis Jakobsen to lead 5-1 in Staffordshire.
Devonte Redmond and Tosin Kehinde responded for the visitors late on, but despite their late pressure, Derby held firm to extend their unbeaten run in all competitions to five games and secure their first Premier League 2 Division 1 win since the end of October.
Derby County U23s: Roos, Santos, Bateman, Cover, Macdonald; Bird (Edwards, 85), Elsnik, Babos; Gordon, Bennett, Jakobsen
Substitutes not used: Cresswell, Ravas, Bogle, Karic
Manchester United U23s: O’Hara, Olosunde, Tuanzebe, Scott (Warren, 64), Mitchell, Willock, Kehinde, Harrop (Buffonge, 72), McTominay, Gribbin, Redmond
Substitutes not used: M. Johnstone, Hamilton, Whelan
HOW CAN I FOLLOW THE ACTION?
Rams supporters not attending Friday night’s fixture can follow all of the action by signing up to RamsTV. Full details of how you can watch the match at Leigh Sports Village can be found here. As usual, you will be able to keep up to date with all the key moments across the official Derby County Twitter account, @dcfcofficial, whilst a full match report, reaction, a replay of the Matchday Live production and match highlights will follow across dcfc.co.uk and RamsTV after the full-time whistle.
