3/1 To Win
Derby County’s Under-23s are back on the road on Monday night when they head south to face Tottenham Hotspur in their latest
Premier League 2 - Division 1 match.
The Under-23s will face Spurs at the Lamex Stadium, home to Stevenage 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
With manager Wayne Rooney's first-team squad reporting a near clean bill of health, the likes of youngsters Kornell McDonald, Louie Watson and Jordan Brown, and midfielder Isaac Hutchinson, could feature for the Under-23s to maintain their match sharpness.
Attacking midfielder Malcolm Ebiowei recently joined Derby’s Academy from Scottish champions Rangers and he could make his Under-23s bow against the Hammers. After completing his move south of the border earlier this month, he has twice been an unused substitute for Pat Lyons' side and is pushing to feature.
Seb Thompson, Alex Matthews and Andres Perez De Gracia missed out on places in the squad in Monday's 3-1 home win over West Ham United but could return to the fold.
Derby will be without young winger Tyree Wilson after he suffered a knee injury in the Under-23s’ 2-0 loss to Brighton & Hove Albion 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.
Pre-Match Views
Senior Professional Development Phase Coach Pat Lyons spoke to RamsTV following the 3-1 home win over West Ham United last Monday and he said: “I am delighted for the players and the staff
because they’re putting a lot of hard work in to get the level of
performance and three points, which we deserved.
"Hopefully now we can
take some confidence from this good moment and push on."
He added: “We let a two-goal lead slip at
Norwich recently so when they got a goal back you do worry, but we had
the quality to get that third goal."
Defender Max Bardell also spoke to RamsTV after opening the scoring in the win over West Ham United.
He said: “We’ve had a slow start to the season and some disappointing results, but the performances have been good and improving each week.
“We threw away a two-goal lead in the Premier League Cup tie at Norwich City recently (drew 3-3 after leading 3-1), so it was important not to do it again.
“We’ve
got the three points on the board now and that was important for us. We
want to push on now and getting our first win will give us confidence in the
upcoming games.”
The Season So Far
Derby's Under-23s put three straight defeats at the start of the 2021/22 season in Premier League 2 - Division 1 behind them last time out with a 3-1 home win over West Ham United at Lougborough University last Monday.
The losses against Brighton & Hove Albion (2-0), Leeds United (3-2) and Everton (1-0) all saw the Rams put in good performances, but they were unable to pick up anything for their efforts.
However, after a 3-3 draw at Norwich City in the Premier League Cup, they returned to league action by picking up all three points against the Hammers.
Defender Max Bardell opened the scoring before striker Jack Stretton, stepping down from the first-team to get a run-out, hit a double to secure a deserved three points.
Tottenham Hotspur's Under-23s have picked up two wins, two draws and one defeat from their first five league fixtures of the season.
They started the season with a 2-2 draw at home to Chelsea, which was then backed up with a 4-2 victory at Leeds United and a 2-1 loss on home turf against North London rivals Arsenal.
Since the international break they have claimed a 2-1 home win over Liverpool and a 3-3 draw at Blackburn Rovers.
They have also been in action in the Papa John's Trophy this season, winning 4-3 at Stevenage and going down 1-0 at Cambridge United.
Live Stream
Owing to restrictions for live streaming when a Premier League game is taking place at the same time, which is the case with Crystal Palace facing Brighton & Hove Albion on Monday evening (8pm kick-off), RamsTV is unable to stream the game live.
Full match highlights from the Premier League 2 - Division 1 clash will appear online on dcfc.co.uk following the game.
