Preston North End Vs Derby County
Tuesday 26th August 2008 Carling Cup 2nd Round
With Derby County looking to kick start their season having earned just the one solitary point from their opening Championship fixtures, Paul Jewell will be wanting nothing less than a win at Deepdale on Tuesday night to see his Derby side progress to the third round and consequently turn their early season despair around.
However, Jewell will not be the only manager who will be striving to see his side progress in the competition as Alan Irvine has signalled his intentions to take the competition seriously and consequently extend Preston's unbeaten run to four games in all competitions. Having drawn with Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday, the Lilywhites will want to get back to winning ways by seeing off the Rams in what should be a very even game.
Even though Preston hammered a hapless Derby County last season in the FA Cup, it is a very different Derby side that saw them finish bottom of the Premier League on a record low points total which I suspect Alan Irvine will be telling his players in a bid to keep their feet firmly on the ground.
Previous Meetings
As mentioned above, when Preston visited Pride Park on January 26th the game ended in a 4-1 win thanks to a brace from Karl Hawley, a goal from Simon Whaley and a Neil Mellor penalty. Earnshaw, now of Nottingham Forest, did pull on back for the Rams with the score at 3-0 but it proved to be a mere consolation.
In terms of league meetings, we have to go back to the 2006/2007 season when Billy Davies was in charge of the Rams. When Derby last visited Deepdale, on new years day 2007, the game ended in a 2-1 win for Derby after a Steve Howard netted a brace before David Nugent pulled one back with just over ten minutes to go.
Head to Head
Just like when Chesterfield visited Deepdale, Irvine may opt to start with new boy Ross Wallace on the left to give him so much needed games. If this proves to be the case, it may provoke a very interesting battle between the former Celtic man and the pacey former Lilywhite, Tye Mears who will be wanting to put in a big performance at his old stomping ground. Both players have pace to burn and it will be interesting to see which of the two has more.
Team News
With Chris Brown still sidelined, Karl Hawley may be the min given the nod alongside Neil Mellor up front and seeing as though the former Carlisle striker knows just how to score past Derby, it may be a blessing in disguise for Alan Irvine. Although Simon Whaley may feel hard done by should he be relegated to the bench.
Ross Wallace is widely expected to start on the left wing with Matt Hill in behind him at left back covering for the injured Callum Davidson.