An immediate return to winning ways will be the only thing on Derby County Under-23s’ mind when they take on Tottenham Hotspur at Pride Park Stadium on Friday evening.
The Rams face Spurs with the aim of bouncing back from their defeat to Manchester City’s Elite Development Squad last time out (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
A one-match suspension means that Calum Macdonald will be forced to sit out Derby County Under-23s’ meeting with Tottenham Hotspur this Friday.
The 19-year-old left back picked up his fifth booking of the season in the Rams’ last outing against Manchester City’s Elite Development Squad at the weekend.
Max Lowe and Jamie Hanson could once again feature as they build up their match sharpness following their long-term injuries.
Kyle McAllister continues to be the Under-23s’ only long-term absentee at this point.
SETTING THE SCENE
Derby’s Under-23s will be looking to show an immediate response when they take on Spurs at Pride Park Stadium on Friday night.
A 4-1 defeat last time out – at the hands of Manchester City’s Elite Development Squad – saw the Rams’ four-game winning run brought to an abrupt end.
Now, though, Darren Wassall says it is about how his players react to their set back.
He told RamsTV: “Of course, it’s disappointing to lose any game 4-1. As a group of players, I don’t think we could turn around to each other and say we deserved anything from the game.
“The scoreline perhaps flattered Manchester City. We started brightly over the first five minutes – I thought we were excellent – but we didn’t react very well to conceding the goal we did away from home.
“We had won our last four games prior to that and we thought we would be a bit more resilient than that.
“Full credit to Manchester City, once they scored the second goal, straight after half time, it proved to be crucial and it effectively ended the match.
“We haven’t been demoralised by the result, because we have got a good opportunity to bounce back and now it’s about how we react.
“There will be a similar set of players who play on Friday and we want to see what sort of reaction we get. We have to make sure we don’t dwell on that disappointment.”
On the other hand, Tottenham arrive on Friday night off the back of an impressive 3-2 victory over North London rivals Arsenal to move off the bottom of the Premier League 2 Division 1 table.
Read Darren Wassall’s and Kyron Stabana’s full pre-match interviews now on dcfc.co.uk.
HOW CAN I ATTEND?
Supporters will be able to back Darren Wassall’s Under-23s side FREE OF CHARGE once again on Friday evening when they aim for a returning to winning ways against Tottenham Hotspur.
As was the case with the Sunderland and Everton matches earlier in the campaign, there will be no reserved seating and tickets will not be required for this Premier League 2 Division 1 fixture.
Supporters are advised to head straight to the lower section of the East Stand upon their arrival on the night.
The club will also open up Car Park A, which is located on the same side as the East Stand, and this will be available on a first come, first served basis.
WHAT HAPPENED LAST TIME?
DERBY COUNTY U23s 1-2 TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR U23s
Friday 26th August, 2016
A goal in each half saw Derby County’s Under 23s fall to a harsh 2-1 defeat at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur on Friday afternoon.
An early penalty conversion from Shayon Harrison gave the Rams a mountain to climb, but they responded to take charge of the meeting as Charles Vernam notched his third goal in three outings.
The visitors edged back in front shortly after the hour mark against the run of play as Kyle Walker-Peters finished off a counter attack move as Spurs recorded a second straight away win.
Derby County U23s: Mitchell, Stabana, Macdonald, Hanson (Wassall, 84), Rawson, Cover, Gordon, Guy, Vernam, Babos (Jakobsen, 68), Santos (Trialist, 77)
Substitutes not used: Ravas, Walker
Tottenham Hotspur U23s: Voss, Walker-Peters, Oglive (Georgiou, 62), Owens (Edwards, 68), Maghoma, Walkes, Pritchard (Loft, 84), Amos, Harrison, Goddard, Oduwa
Substitutes not used: McDermott, Tracey
HOW CAN I FOLLOW THE ACTION?
Rams supporters not attending Friday night’s fixture will still 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.
