The Rams face League Two opposition in the Carling Cup 1st round for the third season in a row.
The last two ties have produced embarrassing exits for Derby with losses against Rotherham United and Crewe Alexandra. Nigel Clough will be desperately hoping to end the terrible run and get back to the cup form of a few years ago.
Vital Quotes:
Nigel Clough has spoken about two players frustratingly missing at the start of the season. Nathan Tyson and Russell Anderson both face spells on the sidelines and this is what the Derby boss had to say: ‘It is ironic because Russell is one of the few players who did every single day in pre-season and he has been feeling good.’
‘He did the same on the opening day at Leeds 12 months ago and he is devastated. We will see how it is. He will have a scan and we will take it from there.’
‘People said it must have been a big boost beating Aston Villa but we’d have swapped the win to have Nathan available [for the start of the season],’ said Clough.
‘He has had a scan and we think he is going to be out until after the international break in September.
‘He will probably miss the first six games of the season – and we will miss him.
‘He has had a couple of groin problems in pre-season but it is unrelated to those. A tackle made on him jarred him a bit. He tried to carry on and it got worse. It’s just bad luck.’
The Rams Team News:
Stephen Pearson and Gareth Roberts are both back in contention having sat out the season opener with short-term injuries.
The International qualifiers have seen Derby lose two first-team players, Jamie Ward to Northern Ireland and Jeff Hendrick to the Republic.
Shaun Barker, David Martin, Paul Green, Jake Buxton, Conor Doyle, Dean Leacock and Saul Deeney are longer term absentees.
Player to watch: Ben Davies
Midfielder Davies will be facing one of his former sides in Shrewsbury.
He set up the Rams opening goal and has been a solid performer in pre-season.
He arrived at a difficult time playing for a stuggling side in January, but has shown definite signs of being a good player for Nigel Clough’s team.
The Shrews Team News:
Shrews’ Joe Jacobson will be out of action as he serves a 3 game suspension.
Young striker Ton Bradshaw, who had a sensational start to his Shrewsbury career with a debut brace is also going to miss out with an ankle ligament injury.
Player to watch: James Collins
Striker Collins has been in impressive form for The Shrews since signing from Aston Villa in January.
He enjoyed a good loan spell with Burton Albion before signing for the New Meadow outfit but The Brewers couldn’t afford him, and he has proved he is worth the money shelled out for him.
Match Facts & Stats
Derby County last results:
Birmingham City (h) 2-1
Shrewsbury Town last results:
Plymouth Argyle (h) 1-1
Next Fixtures:
Watford vs. Derby County, Sat 13th August, 19:45pm, The Championship