Nottingham Forest v Derby Preview

Posted on | August 28, 2009 | No Comments

This game is the pick of the weekend as a local derby takes place at the City Ground. Having spent millions in the summer Nottingham Forest will be hoping for their first victory of the new season, while Derby will be hoping to build from their impressive start and make a surge towards the play offs.

They may have only just avoided relegation last season, but many thought that Nottingham Forest would at least mount a top half challenge for this campaign. Billy Davies was backed significantly and after spending well over £6m on transfer fees, the Forest squad has been completely revamped and has a host of quality players in there. However, things just haven’t quite worked out yet and the City Ground outfit sit in 20^th position, having drawn two and lost two of their opening four games. Coincidently, Davies made his name at opponents Derby when he led them to promotion a few years ago. Similar things were expected in his role here but at the moment, serious improvement is required.

Derby had something of a shaky start having lost to Rotherham and Scunthorpe in the opening weeks of the season, but things have smoothed out slightly now. The Rams have picked up seven points from their opening four games and currently sit in 9^th position. After a goalless draw at home to Blackpool they moved to beat Plymouth 2-1 and manager Nigel Clough must surely be happy with that start. Clough’s squad did not change significantly during the summer with Shaun Barker and Lee Croft being the two main recruits. However, having been without star duo Kris Commons and Rob Hulse for the opening games, Clough now has them both available and perhaps their involvement is related to the Ram’s recent good results.

As for team news, Nottingham Forest just have the one concern as Joel Lynch has a battle to overcome a back injury. The full back missed Forest’s midweek game but with Davies having other defensive problems, Lynch may have to be thrown in earlier than first thought. Derby have a little more to report on and Nigel Clough could hand a debut to veteran Paul Dickov who joined the club on loan earlier in the week.  Paul Green could come back into contention after recovering from a foot injury, but the likes of Steve Davies, Giles Barnes and Chris Porter will all be absent as they sit on the treatment table.

Nottingham Forest may have started the season poorly but we think that could all change here. Billy Davies has gone on record to say he’s disappointed with his side’s start and with Derby being his former club, he’ll be baying to get that victory. With that, we’ll predict a tight 1-0 win for the home side.

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