3/1 To Win
Scott Carson has warned Derby County not to underestimate Sheffield Wednesday when they head to Hillsborough tonight.
Gary Rowett’s side are unbeaten since September on the road in the Sky Bet Championship – a run of 11 games – whilst the Owls are without a win in their last seven league fixtures.
Speaking prior to the trip to his former club, Carson highlighted the quality of the squad that Wednesday boss Jos Luhukay has at his disposal, and he believes that recent form will count for nothing under the lights in South Yorkshire.
He told RamsTV: “They’ve got a new manager and he will have different thoughts to the old manager, so they will obviously take time to get used to eachother.
“It’s always a tough place to go, irrespective of their results or what sort of form that they’re in.
“If you look at their squad, you can see the quality, and we can’t underestimate them just because they’re not doing as well as everybody expects.”
The Rams’ No.1 spent time with Wednesday towards the end of the 2005/06 season, with his form over the last nine games being a key factor in helping the club escape relegation to the third tier.
Carson expressed his gratitude towards Wednesday for the chance that they gave him at such an early stage in his career.
He said: “I went there to get some experience in 2006, I played the final nine games and it was brilliant, I really enjoyed it and I had a good time there.
“They managed to stay in the league and it was first run of games that I had at senior level.
“It was a starting point in my career and I’m thankful that I had the opportunity.”
Carson was in fine form once against as Derby drew with Norwich City on Saturday, as he saved Nelson Oliveira’s first-half penalty before thwarting the Portuguese striker once again with a solid stop after the break.
James Maddison converted the second spot-kick of the afternoon for Daniel Farke’s side, and Carson would like to see Derby show more bravery if they find themselves in a similar situation on Tuesday.
On the penalties, he said: “It was nice to make the save, but you don’t expect to have to face two in the same game.
“I felt quite confident for the second one but he gave it the little stutter and it threw me off a little bit.”
Carson added: “We know that at this stage of the season, every game is massive and everyone is playing for their own reasons, whether it’s fighting relegation or trying to get into the top-six.
“For us, we want to get into the promotion places so they are all massive games.
“It’s a point gained, but sometimes I’d prefer to take a little bit of a risk and try and win the game to get the three points.”
