Derby v Nottingham Forest Preview
Posted on | January 23, 2009 | No Comments
This is one tie which has had the neutral rubbing their hands together with glee. Not only do we have the local derby factor in this one, but with Billy Davies returning to former club Derby while his opposite number Nigel Clough returns to his old club, Friday’s game promises to be a cracker.
Nigel Clough probably hasn’t begun life in his new role as he would have liked, with the Rams still searching for their first win under his management. However, they did put up a very good performance at Old Trafford and on another day, they could have beaten Manchester United. With that, this is the perfect opportunity to win over supporters and record a victory over the club’s fiercest rivals at the same time. It has to be said that the Rams were lucky to reach this stage of the competition though and it took an unconvincing 4-3 victory over non-league Forest Green to pull them through. Considering the fact they were behind twice in that game, there’s no doubt that Rams fans were counting their blessings in reaching the draw for this round.
Nottingham Forest on the other hand have had different fortunes of late under new manager Billy Davies. Davies, who masterminded a fantastic promotion to the Premiership with Derby, has seen his new side pick up two wins from his two games in charge which has helped steer them a little further away from their relegation concerns. There’s no doubt that Forest’s path to this stage has been completely different as well, with the City Ground side beating Premiership giants Manchester City 3-0 to get here. Even though they’re away from home, Davies is the type of manager who will thrive on these sorts of confrontations and will be completely up for masterminding a win over his former club.
As for team news, Derby look set to be without two players with Andy Todd and Steve Davies both looking doubtful with hamstring and groin injuries respectively. However, Nigel Clough does have some good news and influential midfielder, and former Nottingham Forest man for that matter, Kris Commons looks to have recovered in time after getting a knock at Old Trafford midweek. There’s not much to report for Forest although Billy Davies will have Matt Thornhill back for selection after he recovered from a groin problem. Davies has said in the media that he may decide to make changes for this one and with Guy Moussi and Julian Bennett both missing through injury, he may have to anyway.
It’s always hard to predict local derbies, especially involving two teams with new managers. It will be a fiery encounter, one that’s great for the neutral, but ultimately it will end as a draw – 2-2.
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