Rams Aiming To Complete Liverpool Double

Buoyed by their thumping victory earlier this week, Derby County’s Under-23s will be looking to complete the double over Liverpool when they travel to Tranmere on Sunday.

The Rams face the Premier League 2 Division 1 table toppers at Prenton Park (kick-off: 1pm) 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

Darren Wassall will have a similar squad to call upon when they travel to Tranmere to face Liverpool.

There will be a question mark over who will start in midfield, however, as Timi Max Elsnik has linked back up with Swindon Town, where he is enjoying a season-long loan.

Ikechi Anya could well be once again available.

Kyle McAllister continues to be ruled out of action, whilst Max Bird remains ruled out too.

SETTING THE SCENE

The Rams head to Prenton Park with that winning feeling in their sail as they aim to try and complete the double over a table-topping Liverpool.

The Rams ended a five-game streak without a win by emphatically sweeping Birmingham City aside in the Premier League Cup with a 7-2 victory – thanks largely to Lewis Walker’s four-goal haul.

Derby, though, will be chasing their first league win since defeating West Ham United 5-1 at the London Stadium.

To achieve that, they will have to inflict a third straight defeat on Liverpool who head into Sunday’s meeting off the back of a 3-1 and 3-2 defeat to Swansea City and Manchester City respectively.

With momentum behind after their win over Birmingham, Darren Wassall has challenged his players to go out and deliver another fine attacking display.

“I don’t think anybody could have predicted that outcome at half-time,” he said about the Birmingham match. “The game was a little bit end-to-end in the first half and it was too open for our liking.

“We regrouped at half-time and the second half was as well as we’ve played all season; particularly as an attacking force.

“When you win or when you lose, you’ve got to try and keep level-headed because football has a habit of kicking you in the teeth if you get carried away.

“We were exceptionally pleased with the lads and we told them so, but they know that they’ve got a game against Liverpool on Sunday, and they’re a very good outfit with some great players and we know that it’s going to be a very tough encounter.

“It’s a chance for everybody to go and show us what they can do, they took the opportunity against Birmingham and we hope that they can do the same against Liverpool.”

Read Darren Wassall’s and Sven Karic’s full pre-match interviews now on dcfc.co.uk.

HOW CAN I ATTEND?

Rams supporters wishing to support the Under-23s in their mission to complete the double over Liverpool will be able to gain entry at the gate when they arrive Prenton Park.

Ticket prices have been confirmed as follows:

Adults £3
Ages 16 and below: £1

WHAT HAPPENED LAST TIME?

DERBY COUNTY U23s 2-0 LIVERPOOL U23s
Monday 16th October, 2017

Derby County’s Under-23s produced a superb second half display to end Liverpool’s 100 per cent Premier League 2 Division 1 record with a 2-0 win at St George’s Park back in October.

Charles Vernam and Alex Babos finished off clinical counter-attacking moves to make it four wins in a row in all competitions for Darren Wassall’s side.

Derby County U23s: Mitchell; Stabana, Pearce, Shackell, Lowe (Macdonald 46’); Hanson (Bateman 61’), Guy; Thomas, Vernam (Jakobsen 72’), Babos; Walker.

Substitutes not used: Barnes, Wassall

Liverpool U23s: Kelleher; Flanagan (Garcia 61’), Jones, Masterson, Whelan; Virtue, Ejaria; Wilson, Brannagan, Dhanda; Ings

Substitutes not used: Firth, Parker, Sharif

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