The Three Pointer Vs. Derby County

Overview

Birmingham City begin life after Harry Redknapp with a trip to face Gary Rowett`s Derby County tomorrow afternoon.

Caretaker boss Lee Carsley will be looking to bring some much needed confidence and team spirit to a side that have lost their last five Championship games.

But we all know that it’s going to be difficult against The Rams who will be well organised and drilled under Rowett.

They’ve had an average start to the season, picking up 10 points from their seven games. Their last home game was a 5-0 demolition against Hull, but they were well beaten away at Bristol City last time out.

Approach

First and foremost, we need to get this team playing as a unit and we’ve got to cut out the silly goals that we’ve been conceding time and time again.

Carsley will most likely address this first and line up in a 4-3-3 formation with solid banks of players in each area of the pitch.

I’m sure his message to the players will be to keep it tight, play it simple and then try and grab a goal.

The way Rowett sets his teams up, though, may mean that we end up having a fair share of the ball and we could well see a similar pattern to that of the last few games.

Exploit

Whoever plays in the attacking line for Blues will need to play a crucial role. There’s definitely potential there for Sam Gallagher, Jeremie Boga and Jacques Maghoma to pull the Derby backline out of position.

Richard Keogh and Curtis Davies won’t enjoy being pulled wide, so playing it into the space between their full backs and centre backs could well bring us some luck.

Particularly if and when Isaac Vassell gets his chance on the pitch. We all know about his unreal pace and power, so that’s something we should be looking to play into.

And, what’s important to remember, is that we have quality in this side. It’s just a case of getting the individuals to gel together, so hopefully it can click into place at Pride Park.