Derby County’s Under-23s will look to build on their impressive win over Everton on Monday night when they travel to the Academy Stadium to face Manchester City on Saturday, kick-off: 1pm.
Darren Wassall’s side sit sixth in the Premier League 2 – Division 1 standings, level on points with Chelsea, Everton and Arsenal after two wins, two draws and a loss in their opening matches.
City are right behind the Rams in seventh place and will be looking to avoid their third consecutive defeat.
WHAT’S THE LASTEST TEAM NEWS…
Darren Wassall has no fresh injury worries and will have a full squad to choose from.
First-team players George Thorne and Alex Pearce featured for the under-23s on Monday night as they beat Everton 1-0. Thorn scored he only goal from the penalty spot and is expected to feature tomorrow.
SETTING THE SCENE…
The young Rams will head into Saturday’s game with confidence after recording a superb victory against Everton at Loughborough University Stadium.
Wassell’s men won 1-0 courtesy of a George Thorne penalty after Aaron Eyoma’s hard work inside the box earned the spot kick.
Tomorrow’s game against Manchester City will be a tough test for Wassell’s side but they have proven to stand up to tests already this season.
They have already beaten Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and after Monday’s win over the Toffee’s, they will head into tomorrow’s game brimming with belief.
Speaking ahead of the game, Senior Professional Development Phase Coach Pat Lyons said: “Manchester City and Chelsea are the top academies. They have scouted the world to bring in the best young players and what they do is play a younger team full of 18 and 19 year olds who we will probably play against tomorrow.
“They have a lot of games so we’re not sure who we will specifically be up against but all we can do is look after ourselves. We go there with a lot of confidence after only losing one game in five and it will be a good challenge for us. We have not done as well as we would have liked there over the years but it will be a good one to see if we can get off to a good start.”
LAST TIME OUT…
Friday 9th March
Derby County 0-4 Manchester City
Despite a spirited second half display, a young Derby County Under-23 side were beaten by Manchester City at Pride Park Stadium on Friday night.
Lukas Nmecha scored a hat-trick for City whilst Luke Bolton grabbed the other goal in a convincing victory in Premier League 2 - Division 1.
Darren Wassall's side fought back in the second half and were unlucky not to get themselves on the scoresheet but Louie Sibley’s long-range effort smashed against the crossbar.
Derby County: Mitchell (Barnes, 24’); Cover, Wassall, Hunt, Karic; Stabana, Bird; Wilson (Sibley, 67’), Knight, Mitchell-Lawson (Taylor, 76'); Cresswell.
Substitutes not used: Buchanan, Stretton.
Manchester City: Muric; Duhaney, Adarabioyo, Latibeaudiere, Wilson; Dele-Bashiru (Dilrosun, HT), Smith (Wood, 57’), F. Nmecha; Poveda, L. Mnecha, Bolton (Motondo, 75').
Substitutes not used: Sokol, Francis.
HOW CAN I FOLLOW THE ACTION?
As usual, you will also be able to keep up to date with all the key moments across the official Derby County Academy Twitter account, @dcfcacademy, whilst a full match report, match images, reaction and match highlights will follow across dcfc.co.uk and RamsTV after the full-time whistle.