A second East Midlands derby showdown of the month looms for Derby County’s in-form Under-23s as they prepare to take on high-flying Leicester City in Premier League 2 – Division 1.
The Rams take on the Foxes under the Pride Park Stadium floodlights off the back of their 5-1 win over West Ham United a week ago (kick-off: 7pm) and here, 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 Bent and Mason Bennett are expected to make their injury comebacks when the Rams face Leicester.
The former has been missing since July with a hamstring problem suffered in pre-season, whilst the latter has been recovering from a knee ligament injury sustained in the 1-1 draw at Brentford in September.
They will not be the only first team players involved.
Max Lowe and Jamie Hanson are, once again, also expected to feature for the Rams’ Under-23s, whilst Ikechi Anya could get match minutes under his belt.
Kyle McAllister remains a long-term absentee.
SETTING THE SCENE
Friday night will see two sides in red hot form go head-to-head in Premier League 2 on Friday night.
Whilst Darren Wassall’s Rams have won seven of their last nine games in all competitions, Leicester travel to Pride Park unbeaten in all competitions since the middle of September.
In the short-term, Derby’s Under-23s will be buoyed by the impressive 5-1 win over West Ham United at the London Stadium and the fact that another one of their players, Luke Thomas, made their first team debut earlier this week.
Although Leicester sit third in the league standings, Wassall, Derby’s academy director, insists that his young squad have got nothing to fear give that they are now consistently showing that they can mix it with the best youth teams in the country.
He told RamsTV: “It’s not the be all and end all of player development, but beating the likes of Liverpool, Manchester United, Wolfsburg and Spurs shows that we’ve got some very good players in our academy at all levels.
“You might get a one-off result where you do well against good opposition, but to do it on a consistent basis, as players from our Under-16s, Under-18s and Under-23s have done, shows that we’ve got good enough players here to compete with the very best.
“Nobody expected us to go to the London Stadium against Premier League opposition and score five goals, to score five anywhere away from home is a big achievement, so full credit goes to the players.”
Read Darren Wassall’s full pre-match interview 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 face the Foxes.
As has been the case all season, 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 SEASON?
DERBY COUNTY U23s 0-0 LEICETER CITY U23s
Monday 6th March, 2017
Derby County’s Under 23s were forced to settle for a point by Leicester City in a highly competitive clash at St George’s Park back in March after neither team were in no mood to surrender anything
In a contest of very few opportunities, Lewis Walker and Kellan Gordon registered the Rams’ best efforts in quick succession in the second half, whilst the visitors thought they had stolen all the points late on, but Elliott Moore only found the gloves of Kelle Roos from close range.
The draw extended Derby Under 23s’ unbeaten run to five games in Premier League 2 Division 1, as both sides went on to beat the drop and retain their top-flight status.
Derby County U23s: Roos, Santos, Bateman, Macdonald, Karic; Bird, Elsnik, Babos; Gordon, Walker (Cresswell, 67), Jakobsen
Substitutes not used: Cover, Ravas, Edwards, Mitchell-Lawson
Leicester City U23s: Iversen, Johnson, Knight, Moore (C), Pascanu, Ndukwu, Kaba Sherif, Hammond, Debayo (Watts, 15), Muskwe, Gordon (Mitchell, 67)
Substitutes not used: Wood, Bramley, Dewsbury-Hall
HOW CAN I FOLLOW THE ACTION?
