3/1 To Win
Friday night’s Premier League 2 Division 1 fixture has typically thrown up a goal fest in recent years.
Since Derby County Under-23s’ promotion to the top-flight, four or more goals have been scored in each of the meetings between them and Manchester City’s Elite Development Squad.
That sequence began with a narrow 3-2 defeat in the opening match of the 2016/17 season and since then, a total of 25 goals scored over five meetings, with both sides finding the back of the net in all of those meetings too.
Naturally, Darren Wassall is hoping his Under-23s side can maintain their hot streak in front of goal, but how does he plan on trying to counteract City’s own attacking talents?
“It’s difficult to stop,” he told RamsTV. “We have proven ourselves that we can score goals against these teams and in that transition phase on Friday night, we are going to need to be at our best.
“When the opposition is as good as the Manchester City’s in this world, it’s hard to stop them and they often just come up with a little bit of magic and create a chance out of nothing.
“We have worked a lot on containing them and being compact in midfield, it’s easy saying that, now we have to go and show that.
“We’ll give it our best shot. Our work rate and organisation are something we have been really proud of over the last nine years, but with the Under-23s that’s something Pat Lyons and Craig Short have worked incredibly hard on when it comes to combating the opposition.”
It's a game that the Rams’ young players are ‘chomping at the bit’ for. One, because it is their first game in two weeks after their meeting with Tottenham Hotspur last week was postponed thanks to an intervention from the Beast from the East, whilst it is also their first game at Pride Park Stadium since December.
“The players are chomping at the bit,” Wassall, the club’s academy director, added. “They haven’t played for two weeks and particularly with the fact that it is at Pride Park, they are desperate to continue where we left off against Everton in the league.”
RamsTV also spoke to Lewis Walker ahead of the fixture and following his Premier League 2 Player of the Month nomination for February, we wanted to find out how Wassall thought the forward was progressing.
The 18-year-old has scored seven goals in six matches since earning a recall to the starting line-up.
Wassall feels Walker is ‘undoubtedly’ in his best form since he joined the club from Ilkeston Town in January 2016.
He said: “Lewis has undoubtedly had his best spell since joining us from Ilkeston in January 2016. He deservedly gets the nomination because he has been outstanding over the last six weeks.
“It’s the first time he’s really had a run in the side as the number nine and he’s taken the opportunity with both hands.
“It’s not just the goals that he’s scoring, but his overall play and the way he has led the line has been excellent.”
