Form team Derby at the Turf

Last updated : 23 December 2006 By Tony Scholes
Giles Barnes
They ended October in 19th place in the division after drawing at Cardiff but since then they have collected more points than any other club in the league, no fewer than 24 out of 27 and have shot up into second place behind leaders Birmingham City.

It is the sort of run that manager Billy Davies is used to, Preston had good runs in both of the last two seasons, and this run came out of the blue with no obvious indication that there was to be such a dramatic change in fortune. Up to then they had being doing reasonably well away from home but at home had won just once and the supporters were beginning to get somewhat restless.

Davies joined the Rams after a less than harmonious departure from Preston in the summer, and he's since been joined by a good number of members of his Deepdale, many of whom had claimed to be leaving the game. He took over from Terry Westley who had taken over the reigns in January following the sacking of Phil Brown.

Westley reverted to his role with the academy but not for long as Davies made room for the influx from Preston. The new manager also promised to be busy in the transfer market but when the season kicked off he'd only brought in three new players. The most expensive of the signings was Luton striker Steve Howard who cost a million, and after a slow start he's repaid him with eight league goals.

Arsenal's Ryan Smith and Matt Oakley from Southampton arrived just a few days ahead of the big kick off, but Davies hadn't finished in the market and by the time the August window closed he'd added three more permanent signings and one loan player.

The loan player, who is still with the club, was 20 year old Italian forward Arturo Lupoli who joined Arsenal in the summer of 2004 from Parma. The first of the permanent signings was a familiar face to Burnley fans, our former full back Mo Camara who had become surplus to requirements in Scotland with Celtic. He looked all set to sign for Leeds before Derby made a late move.

There were some significant departures. Tommy Smith rejoined Watford for half a million with just over a day to go before the window closed and on the very last day of August they sold Spanish midfielder Inigo Idiakez for £350,000, signed by George Burley, the manager who had signed him at Derby, for Southampton.

Fulham defender Dean Leacock and goalkeeper Stephen Bywater from West Ham completed the transfer activity in August. Both signed midway through the month, Bywater initially on loan but making it permanent a couple of weeks later.

Since then Bob Malcolm, the former Rangers defender, has signed and two more players have come in on loan deals, Jon Stead and David Jones. Stead wasn't getting a look in at RK Sunderland but he's found the net three times for Derby, midfielder Jones, who played for Davies at Preston, will make the move from Manchester United a permanent one in January for a seven figure fee.

One player who hasn't featured in any transfers but has provided Derby with an addition to the squad is pacy midfielder Giles Barnes who is just 18. Barnes won himself a place in the side last season but has become a regular starter for the Rams this season and recently has started scoring goals too, hitting five in the last ten games. He is going to be one player we will have to keep an eye on.

There's no doubt that the Derby of the last two months are a different proposition to the one that played up to the end of October. Their one defeat in those last nine games came three weeks ago when West Brom beat them with a last minute goal. They have had two 1-0 wins since then against Leeds and Crystal Palace.

Click HERE to see all Derby's fixtures this season.

Team News

Steve Howard had played the entire ninety minutes of every game until last week, but was missing for the win against Crystal Palace because of a one match suspension following his fifth yellow card against Leeds.

He's just about certain to return, probably at the expense of Arturo Lupoli, but Derby will have to make a change at the back where Richard Jackson is expected to come in to replace the suspended Marc Edworthy.

Although our former loan goalkeeper Lee Grant will be on the bench, it is unlikely that we will see Mo Camara. Our former left back was left out of the side after they beat West Brom at the beginning of November. He was replaced by Paul Boertien who has held the left back spot since.

Derby are expected to line up: Stephen Bywater, Richard Jackson, Darren Moore, Dean Leacock, Paul Boertien, David Jones, Seth Johnson, Matt Oakley, Giles Barnes, Steve Howard, Jon Stead. Subs from: Lee Grant, Morten Bisgaard, Michael Johnson, Arturo Lupoli, Mr Karren Brady, Ryan Smith.

Click HERE to see the full Derby squad.

As for Burnley, we welcome back both Jon Harley and James O'Connor following suspension whilst lose Micah Hyde who collected his fifth yellow card last week in the draw against RK Sunderland.

Harley and O'Connor will be certain to return to the starting eleven whilst it is a matter of who will line up alongside O'Connor in midfield with Chris McCann expected to get the nod ahead of Alan Mahon.

That is assuming everyone is fit and well, with the obvious exception of Andy Gray who has been using the oxygen chamber to speed up the healing process after breaking three metatarsals. I say assuming because reports suggest we have some injuries that have been kept quiet, the club themselves today reporting that Steve Cotterill is waiting to see whether some injuries clear up in time. Brian Jensen though is expected to have recovered from illness and could return to the bench.

If they do then I expect our team to be: Danny Coyne, Wayne Thomas, Michael Duff, John McGreal, Jon Harley, Wade Elliott, James O'Connor, Chris McCann, Steve Jones, Gifton Noel-Williams, Kyle Lafferty. Subs from: Brian Jensen, Stephen Foster, Frank Sinclair, Alan Mahon, John Spicer, Graham Branch, Garreth O'Connor.

Last Meeting

It was certainly a controversial affair and a game where we dropped two points after an equaliser from the one villain of the peace Grzegorz Rasiak deep into stoppage time.

We'd made three signings the day before the game, Jon Harley started whilst Keith Lowe and John Spicer were both named as substitutes. There was no sign of anything to come in the first half when Inigo Idiakez gave Derby the lead with a free kick from many yards out and it looked as though Burnley were set to face a fourth defeat in five games at the beginning of the season.

Within ten minutes of the restart the game was turned on its head, first one way and then the other as the Clarets went in front before being reduced to ten men. Ade Akinbiyi scored in the first minute of that second half and seven minutes later it was 2-1 with Gifton Noel-Williams scoring, in August, what proved to be his last goal of the season for us.

By now we were well on top, but that was when Rasiak stepped in and conned the very easily conned Graham Laws. He went down in a challenge with Wayne Thomas as if shot, and incredibly Laws incorrectly, decided that Thomas had elbowed the Polish striker and sent him off. He was holding his face in front of the Longside, but there had been no contact with his face whatsoever, but it is something we have come to expect from this particular player.

It really was yet another in a long line of astonishing decisions from this particular referee that have gone against Burnley but it wasn't the end of the drama. Graham Branch went for a ball, his foot was high and he kicked Derby's Marcus Edworthy in the face. Laws deemed it a yellow card, although video evidence showed that it was an accident. It left Edworthy badly injured and the game was held up for over ten minutes before he was finally led to the dressing room.

It was into those minutes added on, eleven of them, that Rasiak scored the equaliser and earned Derby a point, but it was a point they had hardly deserved after our performance in the second half.

As for the red card, Laws admitted there was no incriminating evidence after the game, but wouldn't change his decision. No surprise to those of us who had been at Preston just six months earlier.

The teams were;

Burnley: Danny Coyne, Michael Duff, Wayne Thomas, John McGreal, Jon Harley, Garreth O'Connor, Micah Hyde, James O'Connor, Graham Branch, Gifton Noel-Williams (Keith Lowe 57), Ade Akinbiyi. Subs not used: Brian Jensen, Chris McCann, John Spicer, Karl Bermingham.

Derby: Lee Camp, Marc Edworthy (Seth Johnson 66), Michael Johnson (Marcus Tudgay 86), Andrew Davies, Richard Jackson, Morten Bisgaard, Adam Bolder (Mr Karren Brady 58), Inigo Idiakez, Tommy Smith, Grzegorz Rasiak, Paul Thirlwell. Subs not used: Lee Grant, Pablo Mills.

Previous 20 Seasons

Season

Div

Ven

Result

Att

Scorers

1991/92

FAC

h

2-2

18,722

Harper Eli

..

a

0-2

.

abandoned 76 mins due to fog

..

a

0-2

18,374

.

1994/95

1

a

0-4

13,922

.

.

.

h

3-1

11,534

Davis Eyres Shaw

1999/2000

FAC

a

1-0

16,030

Cooke

2002/03

2

a

2-1

22,343

Blake(pen) Barton(og)

..

h

2-0

15,063

I Moore Taylor

2003/04

1

a

0-2

21,960

.

..

h

1-0

16,189

Branch

2004/05

C

h

0-2

13,703

.

..

a

1-1

23,701

Valois

2005/06

C

h

2-2

12,243

Akinbiyi Noel-WIlliams

.

FAC

a

1-2

12,713

G O'Connor

..

a

0-3

23,292

.

Click HERE to see all our results against Derby going back to the first season of the Football League.