3/1 To Win
Derby County’s Under-23s will be targeting a second win in a week when they take on Manchester City’s Elite Development Squad at the City Football Academy on Saturday, kick-off: 11am.
The Rams ended Liverpool’s flawless start to the 2017/18 Premier League 2 Division 1 campaign on Monday by winning 2-0 and ahead of today’s game, 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
Max Lowe is in line to further step up his return to full fitness by getting more minutes under his belt when Derby County’s Under-23s face Manchester City EDS.
The 20-year-old full back played 45 minutes in the 2-0 win over Liverpool and is set to build on that this weekend.
That is likely to also be the case of Jamie Hanson who also returned against the Reds, but Alex Pearce, who also featured on Monday night, will be back with the first team for their clash with Sheffield Wednesday at Pride Park Stadium.
Offrande Zanzala and Kyle McAllister are the only two players who are not available for selection when the Rams travel to the state-of-the-art City Football Academy.
SETTING THE SCENE
Derby County’s Under-23s will be travelling to Manchester today off the back of four successive wins in all competitions.
Their 2-0 win over Liverpool on Monday is arguably their biggest scalp as they ended their 100 per cent winning start to the Premier League 2 season, thanks to Charles Vernam’s and Alex Babos’ first goals of the campaign.
Alone, the result means the Rams will take on the Citizens off the back of eye-catching League wins over Manchester United and the Reds.
In comparison, City, last year’s Premier League 2 runners-up, have only won one of their first seven matches – a 2-0 win against Swansea City.
Last year, Derby enjoyed four high-scoring meetings with the Sky Blues.
Wassall’s men opened their maiden Premier League 2 season with a 3-2 defeat, before losing 5-1 in the first Premier League Cup meeting before Christmas.
Derby then comfortably won 3-1 and lost 4-1 at the City Football Academy back in April.
Looking ahead to the Rams’ latest clash with City, Wassall told dcfc.co.uk: “The performances have been excellent all season and when we look at it, we still don’t feel as though we have got the points return that we deserve.
“We’re starting to get those rewards now. We also know that this is a tough, tough, League that we are playing in and that we have to be at our very best to get anything out of the games.
“Right now, we’re getting both the performance and the result. We have another easy game on Saturday, this time away at Manchester City!
“In all seriousness, whilst we have been able to enjoy Monday’s result all of our focus has been on getting ready for that.”
Read Darren Wassall’s full pre-match interview now on dcfc.co.uk.
HOW CAN I ATTEND?
Supporters who wish to support our Under-23s at City’s Academy Stadium will be able to pay for a ticket on the day of the game.
A ticket booth is located on site and Rams fans will be able to secure their seat for the following prices.
Adults - £3
Senior Citizens & Concessions - £1
A GAME TO REMEMBER
MANCHESTER CITY EDS 1-3 DERBY COUNTY U23s
Wednesday 25th January, 2017
Three second half goals saw Derby County’s Under 23s secure their first victory of 2017 in style as they fought back to defeat Manchester City’s Elite Development Squad in the Premier League Cup.
A goal down at the interval after Joe Hardy’s finish, Darren Wassall’s side came out fighting over the second 45 minutes and found a quick equaliser through Kellan Gordon 10 minutes after the restart.
Continuing to press forward, Emil Riis Jakobsen bagged his first goal of the season to edge the Rams in front, before Mason Bennett smashed in a late penalty to deservedly seal all three points at the AJ Bell Stadium.
The result served as the kick start for Derby’s revival as they went on to retain their Premier League 2 Division 1 status.
Manchester City EDS: Grimshaw, Rosler, Humphreys, Oliver, Sarmiento (Hardy, 13), Patching, Nemane (Carlo Poveda, 62), Kongolo (C), Buckley-Ricketts, Boadu, Fernandes
Substitutes not used: Pozo, Scott, Dilrosun
Derby County: Ravas, Bogle, Cover, Bainbridge, Macdonald; Elsnik (Bird, 64), Gordon, Babos; Santos, Bennett, Jakobsen (Davidson-Miller, 86)
Substitutes not used: Rashid, Barnes, Mitchell-Lawson
HOW CAN I FOLLOW THE ACTION?
Rams supporters not attending Saturday’s fixture will be able to follow all of the action LIVE and for FREE on RamsTV. As usual, you will be able to keep up to date with all the key moments across the official Derby County Twitter account, @dcfcofficial, whilst a full match report, match images, reaction and match highlights will follow across dcfc.co.uk and RamsTV after the full-time whistle.
