Derby County’s Under-23s are back in action in Premier League 2 - Division 1 on Friday night when they head to Everton following the first international break of the season.
The Under-23s will face the Toffees at The Pure Stadium, home of Southport FC, (7pm kick-off) and dcfc.co.uk has brought together all the key information you will need to know ahead of the game.
Team News
Derby will certainly be without young winger Tyree Wilson after he suffered a knee injury in the Under-23s’ 2-0 loss to Brighton & Hove Albion on the opening day of the season last month.
The wideman is set for a number of months out of action and is rated as doubtful to feature this side of Christmas.
Centre-back Eiran Cashin will miss the match due to suspension after being sent off for two bookable offences in the 3-2 defeat against Leeds United at the end of August.
Connor Dixon returned from a pre-season injury against Leeds and he will be looking to build on his impressive return, which saw him get his name on the scoresheet, in the coming weeks for the Under-23s.
Summer signings Luke Plange and Courtney Clarke could make their first appearances for the Under-23s this season after being forced to self isolate in line with COVID-19 rules last month.
Pre-Match Views
Senior Professional Development Phase Coach Pat Lyons said: “The lads were disappointed we didn’t get anything against Leeds last time out, but there were loads of positives to take.
“A lot of our lads are young at this level in the sense they don’t have much game time and they are learning all the time.
“We could see some things we worked on from the Brighton defeat go into that Leeds performance, so it’s a shame we didn’t get anything.
“There’s still loads of work to do. We need to build on all the good things and take them into the Everton game and keep pushing on.”
Midfielder Connor Dixon, who made his first appearance of the season in the 3-2 loss against Leeds, said: “The Leeds game was much improved compared to the first game of the season against Brighton.
“We had plenty of chances and at important times too, so we need to be more clinical moving forward.
“We’ve had a bit of time to rest our legs before the Everton game, so hopefully we can get ourselves started in terms of points on the board and get a positive result.”
Previous Matches
Derby's Under-23s have tasted back-to-back defeats in their opening two games of the 2021/22 season so far.
They began the campaign with a 2-0 defeat at Pride Park Stadium against Brighton & Hove Albion, before being on the end of a 3-2 scoreline against Leeds United at the end of August.
Everton's Under-23s, meanwhile, have one point from their opening three matches. They started the season with a 2-2 draw at Blackburn Rovers, but have since tasted successive 3-1 defeats at home to Liverpool and away to Crystal Palace.
The 2020/21 meetings between the clubs saw the Toffees take maximum points on both occasions. They were 4-1 winners on home turf early in the season, as well as recording a 3-1 victory at Loughborough University Stadium later in the campaign.
Live Stream
With Derby's first-team also in action on Friday night at Birmingham City (8pm kick-off), RamsTV will not be showing a live stream of the match.
Full match highlights from the Premier League 2 - Division 1 clash will appear online on dcfc.co.uk following the game.
Everton are, however, showing the game live on their YouTube Channel and details can be found by clicking here.
