High-flying Derby host Birmingham City tomorrow. Steve McClaren’s team are formidable at home and this one will be a job well done if Blues walk away with anything.
Having won 5/6 of their last home games, I would make Derby heavy favorites for this one. Teams such are Blackburn, Sheffield Wednesday, Bolton and Charlton have all left the i-Pro stadium with nothing in recent weeks.
Birmingham on the other hand have certainly seen their away form slip away from them. Small margins it may have been in the previous few weeks but this task is even larger. Rowett’s men are on the back of 2 straight away defeats to Ipswich and Brighton, conceding 8 in the process.
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Derby have plenty of goal threat in their ranks, players such as Martin, Hendrick, Rusell and Bent all know exactly where the goal is. Perhaps a favorable note for Birmingham is that Chris Martin will miss tomorrow’s game through injury.
Derby’s standout player at the moment has been Tom Ince, on loan from Hull City, the winger has settled in very well at Derby and has scored 5 goals already. Averaging almost 5 shots game, Blues will need to keep him quiet. He last played on the right of a front 3.
Cotterill, assuming he will play on the right for Birmingham, will have his work cut out against an in-form left back in Craig Forsyth. In 35 appearances this season the Scot has been an important player for McClaren.
With that said, Birmingham have players that can impact this game as well. Robert Tesche had a great game against Blackpool, tackling well and providing a wonderful assist for Shinnie to ghost behind and score. The loanee may well have a big say tomorrow.
Cotterill is again my nod to make something happen. He may not have been at the races in some games this season but he remains probably the player of the season so far and more than capable of getting Blues something.
I’m expecting Rob Kiernan to remain at centre half with Jonathan Spector after having put in decent performances in recent matches, enabling Blues to grab 6/6 points from the last two games. But with Morrison nearing fitness, the pair will be competing to partner the main man.
My prediction for tomorrow, it is a tough one and I refuse to predict a loss so I’m going to go for a 1-1 draw. And, in my view that would be a fantastic return.
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