Derby County’s Under 18s return to competitive action this weekend and will be looking to make it three wins out of three against Manchester United.
After successive victories on the road, Justin Walker’s and Rory Delap’s side now turn their attention to securing their first home victory when they take on the Red Devils at the Training Centre in partnership with the University of Derby, kick-off: 12pm.
In the Under-18s’ last league fixture, the Rams signed off the international break with an emphatic 3-0 victory over Sunderland at the Academy of Light.
Fuseine Rashid opened the scoring after just 16 minutes of play and both Jayden Mitchell-Lawson and Morgan Whittaker found the back of the net in the second half to secure what marked as a comfortable and deserved three points for the Rams.
Thanks to their unbeaten start to the 2017/18 campaign, Walker’s and Delap’s side now sit in second place in the Premier League – North table behind only Manchester City.
The Rams’ opponents, on the other hand, reside in eighth place after recording a loss and a win from their first two games against West Bromwich Albion (2-4) and Stoke City (2-1) respectively.
Last time the two sides locked horns at the Training Centre, on the opening day of the 2016/17 season, Derby produced arguably their standout performance of the year to emphatically beat United 4-0 – with Cameron Cresswell bagging a hat-trick.
And on that victory, Delap spoke exclusively to RamsTV to reflect on what was a very successful day.
He said: “In terms of the performance, it was probably the best we played last season. That was pleasing at the time, but we didn’t replicate it that much over the rest of the season.
“That was disappointing, because we saw what the players were capable of and we couldn’t get that out of them on a consistent level; individually and as a team.
“We are starting to turn that cog, though, that they should not be afraid of the badge on the opposition shirt, they are playing a team with 11 players and they need to be treated the same as every other club they face.”
Want to keep up to date with how our Under-18s get on? Keep fully up to date through our social media channels, whilst a full match report and match reaction will feature across dcfc.co.uk after the full-time whistle.
Images by Harry Marshall
