Derby County’s Under-23s return to Premier League 2 - Division 1 action on Saturday with a trip south to face Chelsea.
The Under-23s will face the Blues at Kingsmeadow Stadium (1pm kick-off) and dcfc.co.uk has brought together all the key information you will need to know ahead of the game.
Team News
Skipper
Eiran Cashin missed the Under-23s' 2-1 Premier League Cup win against
Charlton Athletic on Monday due to illness and is a doubt for the
weekend's game.
Fellow defender Max Bardell will miss the match as he serves a one-match ban for his red card, for two bookable offences, against the Addicks.
First-team squad members Louie Watson, Festy Ebosele, Kornell McDonald and Dylan Williams all featured against Charlton but with the first-team in action at Preston North End on Saturday, they could be instead needed around Wayne Rooney's group for the trip to Deepdale.
Derby
will be without young winger Tyree Wilson after he
suffered a knee injury in the early stages of the Under-23s’ 2-0 loss to
Brighton & Hove
Albion in August. He was carried off on a stretcher and is now working
on his rehabilitation work to return to fitness in the months ahead.
Pre-Match Views - Coaching Staff
Senior Professional Development Phase Coach Pat Lyons spoke to RamsTV following Monday's 2-1 home win over Charlton Athletic in the Premier League Cup and said: “We’ve done alright in terms of our performances and we’re building on each one.
“In our last league game at Manchester City we played really well, although we lost 1-0 in the end. We want to keep pushing and keep improving as we prepare for our trip to Chelsea on Saturday.”
The Season So Far
Derby's Under-23s have played six games so far this term in Premier League 2 - Division 1 and have registered one win and five defeats.
The side's performances have deserved more points and their single victory to date in the league came in a 3-1 success at home to West Ham United in September.
Pat Lyons' side have tasted defeats against Brighton & Hove Albion (2-0), Leeds United (3-2), Everton (1-0), Tottenham Hotspur (3-1) and Manchester City (1-0).
In the Premier League Cup, the Rams are top of Group C after two matches with four points to their name. A 3-3 draw at Norwich City was followed up with a 2-1 success at home to Charlton Athletic on Monday of this week thanks to goals from Luke Plange and Louie Watson.
Chelsea's Under-23s are two points ahead of Derby in the league table with one win, two draws and four defeats from their seven league outings to date.
Their only win so far came in a 4-3 thriller at home to Liverpool last month, after being 3-1 down, while their two draws came against Tottenham Hotspur (2-2) and Manchester United (1-1) in August. Their losses have come against West Ham United (2-1), Manchester City (4-1), Arsenal (6-1) and Blackburn Rovers (1-0).
The Blues are also competing in the Papa John's Trophy this term and began their involvement in the competition with a 1-1 draw at Exeter City in August before winning 4-3 on penalties.
They faced Bristol Rovers earlier this week, where they claimed a 2-1 victory over Joey Barton’s side and will conclude their group campaign in November with a trip to Cheltenham Town.
Live Stream
RamsTV is unable to stream the game live owing to first-team commitments and other Premier League matches taking place on Saturday.
Full match highlights from the Premier League 2 - Division 1 clash will appear online on dcfc.co.uk following the game.
