Luke Turner has his say on where Blues could win or lose at the iPro…
Blues head back to the East Midlands for the second time this week to face Derby County following a 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest on Tuesday evening.
Here’s where I think the game could be won or lost for Blues at the iPro:
Support the Don?
It will be a very challenging game for Gary Rowett`s Blues and I expect Derby to cause problems all game whilst having plenty of possession.
This will leave Blues with a lot of men behind the ball and, therefore, when we do get the ball out to Clayton Donaldson, he will need support.
For the last year and a half we have seen Donaldson work tirelessly for the team, making something out of nothing and causing plenty of bother to opposition defenders.
It’s games like these when we need to him to be at his best, holding the ball up to relieve the pressure off the back four and midfield.
But, he can’t do it alone and so we need to get men around Donaldson and give him options.
I won’t be surprised if Rowett sticks with three in midfield, as he did on Tuesday. This does mean that Donaldson loses the support of the number ten behind him.
The likes of Kieftenbeld and Davis along with the two wingers have to bust a gut to get forward into space to give options to Clayton.
At the same time, we need Donaldson to do a big job for us in keeping the ball, winning free kicks and being available as an outlet.
Cover ground and don’t leave gaps?
If Blues are to come away with something from this game then they need to stay tight and compact whilst not leaving much space for Derby attackers to exploit.
They have an array of talent on the attacking front so players such as Tom Ince, Nick Blackman, Johnny Russell and Chris Martin will most certainly exploit any open space.
I think having three in midfield will be crucial in covering space and ground to prevent any clear cut openings.
Ideally, Stephen Gleeson can sit and protect the back four with David Davis and Maikel Kieftenbeld either side of him tracking runners, intercepting passes ensuring the back four don’t face a one on one situation.
Not only do the central midfielders need to do this job, but also the wingers. They need to support Caddis and Grounds and double up on the likes of Russell, Blackman and Ince.
Just one player switching off can quite easily be costly for Blues as Derby have the quality to punish it and put the ball in the back of the net.
Key player for Blues?
I’m going to say that Clayton Donaldson will be key for Blues on Saturday afternoon. Purely because he is an outlet and, with Blues expected to be under pressure for large parts of the game, he can help relieve this and give the defence a break.
Derby haven’t won in three games and if we frustrate them as the game goes on then I really do think we could nick it.
Blues fans, where do you think Blues could win or lose against Derby? Can we get anything from the game? Comment below!