Derby v Crystal Palace Preview

Posted on | December 5, 2008 | No Comments

These sides don’t sit too far away from each other in the league and will both hold mild play off aspirations. Following relegation from the Premiership Paul Jewell will have been hoping for a slightly better response from his derby side sitting in 15^th, while Neil Warnock will have similar thoughts after seeing his side reach the top six last season only for them now to be languishing in 13^th.

After a horror start to the season, Derby had a couple of months of terrific form which they were almost unbeatable. However, recent results haven’t been encouraging and the Rams have lost quite a few games in the last month and have only taken one point out of their last three matches. They found themselves 3-0 down against Burnley inside the opening twenty five minutes and never recovered, so the Pride Park outfit will be desperate to get their league form back on track. One point to smile about is their Carling Cup success, with Jewell’s men overcoming Premiership side Stoke and progressing to the semi-finals of the competition during midweek. Whether or not the distraction of a possible Wembley final will get in the way of the league is another matter though, but the Pride Park side need to pick up points if they are to close the six point gap with the play offs.

As for opponents Palace, their form has picked up recently and they are unbeaten in three having collected seven points. Wins over Bristol City and Norwich was followed up by a goalless draw with QPR, so Neil Warnock must be happy with the way things are going at the moment. Admittedly, they’re still sat in 13^th position, but the tightness of the league means they’re now only four points off the top six. Over the campaign so far it’s proved that Palace have lacked the consistency that’s vital for success in this division, although if they can string some results together they’ll be right in the play off picture and hoping to repeat last season’s finish.

In terms of team news, Paul Jewell has a dilemma in the forwards department coming into this one. Nathan Ellington’s last gasp winner against Premiership side Stoke midweek means he’s in contention, although after splashing out for Luke Varney a couple of weeks ago Jewell may opt to recall him. Elsewhere, Paul Green will miss out after breaking his fingers, but other than that there are no new concerns for the Rams. As for the visitors, Neil Warnock will be without Carl Fletcher, Lee Hills and Neil Danns who are all struggling with injuries. However, the Palace boss has been handed a huge boost this week with the news that Alan Lee has recovered from a hamstring injury and can now be considered for selection.

This game has draw written all over it. While Palace have done well recently, they’ve never been able to put together a long run of decent results and there’s no evidence to suggest that’ll change on Saturday. As for Derby, they may have had a good result midweek, but their league form has been poor and we don’t think they have enough about them at the moment to get all the points – 0-0.

Related posts:

1. Crystal Palace v Derby Preview
2. Birmingham v Crystal Palace Preview
3. Championship Preview: Crystal Palace
4. Crystal Palace v Middlesbrough Preview
5. Ipswich v Crystal Palace Preview

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