Off the back of their first win of 2017/18 season, Derby County’s Under-23s head to Wales to face newly-promoted Swansea City at Liberty Stadium, kick-off: 7pm.
The Rams take on the Swans in their first match since beating Sunderland 2-0 and ahead of the trip 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?
Darren Wassall has said that Callum Guy and Kyle McAllister could be in contention to return to Derby County Under-23s’ squad for Monday evening’s Premier League 2 Division 1 game with Swansea City.
The pair returned to training over the last week and are pushing for recalls.
Guy, the midfielder, has struggled with an injury he suffered towards the end of his successful loan spell with Port Vale last campaign.
McAllister, who signed for the club back in January from St Mirren, has also been held back by a niggling groin problem.
Wassall, Derby’s academy director, told RamsTV: “Callum is training with us now, so hopefully he will be in contention for Monday. We are looking forward to getting him back out on the pitch.
Kyle has joined in with full training over the last few days and we will see how he comes out of it. Like Callum, we are hoping that he will be in contention for the squad on Monday.”
The Rams will be without Farrend Rawson, Timi Max Elsnik and Kellan Gordon who all left the club on loan deals on Transfer Deadline Day.
SETTING THE SCENE
The Rams travel to Wales looking to build on their first win of the 2017/18 campaign.
Derby defeated Sunderland 2-0 at Pride Park Stadium – thanks to goals from George Thorne and Offrande Zanzala – and their performance on the night left certainly left a lasting impression on Wassall.
The win came after narrow defeats to Arsenal (2-3) and Chelsea (2-0).
In contrast, however, Swansea are yet to win since their promotion to Premier League 2 Division 1 last campaign.
The Swans romped to the Division 2 title with a huge 11-point margin after winning 17 of their 22 League matches, but have only picked up thus far since then.
They have lost twice – to West Ham United (5-2) and Liverpool (0-2) – and picked up their one from a 1-1 draw with Manchester United in between.
It’s a situation that Wassall and Derby know all about.
Following their own promotion from Division 2, the Rams went into Christmas bottom of the table before fighting back over the second half of the year to seal their safety.
One thing is for sure, Wassall is not taking Swansea for granted.
“We have consistently said that there is no easy game at this level,” he told RamsTV.
“It’s a big step up from Division 2 to Division 1 because you are throwing into the mix some of this country’s finest clubs – clubs that consistently play in the Champions League.
“There’s the likes of Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Everton, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur and they have not only got strong resources at first team level, but their Under-23s too. It’s a tough league and we found that last year.
“It took us a while to acclimatise; even though our performances were decent and we weren’t getting the result that we deserved.
“Maybe Swansea are finding that as well. We won’t be taking them for granted; it will be a tough evening.”
Read Darren Wassall’s and Alex Cover’s full pre-match interviews on dcfc.co.uk!
HOW CAN I ATTEND?
Supporters wishing to support Derby’s Under-23s at the Liberty Stadium will be able to purchase tickets on the day of the match.
Prices on Swansea City’s official website has been confirmed as follows:
Adults £3
Children (Under-16) £1
Concessions (Over 60s & students) £1
WHAT HAPPENED LAST TIME?
SWANSEA CITY U21s 2-1 DERBY COUNTY U21s
Monday 7th March, 2016
Despite taking an early lead, Derby County’s then Under-21s fell to a 2-1 defeat to Swansea City when the two sides last met in March 2016.
Offrande Zanzala had edged the Rams in front, but the Swans hit back through Adam King and then Kenji Gorre to seal all three points at their training ground.
That was Derby’s first defeat of 2016, but it didn’t stop them from claiming the Division 2 title at the end of the 2015/16 campaign.
Swansea City U21s: Vickers, Shephard (C), (Davies,72), Hanley, Fulton (Maric, 60), Gogic, Rodon, Blair, King, Biabi, Montero (Bray, 75), Gorre
Substitutes not used: Zabret, Jones
Derby County U21s: Ravas, Santos (Stabana, 43), Macdonald, Elsnik, Rawson (C), Koblenz, Guy, Vernam (Gordon, 60), Thomas, Zanzala, Calero (Babos, 82)
Substitutes not used: Cover, Barnes, Stabana
HOW CAN I FOLLOW THE ACTION?
Rams supporters not attending Monday night’s fixture will be able to follow all of the action LIVE and for FREE on RamsTV. 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, match images, reaction and match highlights will follow across dcfc.co.uk and RamsTV after the full-time whistle.
