Derby County’s dramatic collapse has been damaging for them as Steve McLaren once again failed to get his mantra right in their 1-0 loss at the hands of Blackburn Rover at the at the Ewood Park. The Rams are languishing at the 11th spot on the league table after having collected merely 48 points in 34 league outings this term.
Derby County are going to host Barnsley at the Pride Park Stadium on 4th March and here is our predicted Derby County line-up to face the Tykes.
Defence
No surprise is expected as far as the goalkeeping role is concerned, as Scott Carson should be starting between the sticks for Derby County against the Super Reds. The Rams might have been undergoing a nightmarish run in the Championship but Carson has done a decent job as a goalie.
Craig Forsyth is still an absentee owing to his knee injury, which implies that Cyrus Christie is seemingly likely to be handed another start from the right-back slot whereas, at left-back, we expect Max Low to put up his industrious display on show. The central defence is likely to witness the pair of Richard Keogh and Alex Pearce to keep Barnsley’s attacking endeavours in check.
Midfield
McLaren is likely to roll out a 4-3-3 formation, which means that we should anticipate yet another outing for the young yet resilient midfielder, Julien de Sart, as the holding midfielder. The 22-year-old has taken his stature to a whole new level after getting chances to ply his trade after George Thorne’s fractured leg injury which is the reason why he still remains sidelined.
On the left-hand side of the midfield, Bradley Johnson is likely to be given the nod to start for the Rams whereas, on the right, another talented youngster in the shape of Will Hughes should be stationed.
Attack
Without any shadow of doubt David Nugent should be spearheading Derby County’s setup. Darren Bent hasn’t been successful in leading the line, as the 33-year-old has scored merely 12 goals across all competitions this season under the tutelage of McLaren.
However, pressure is on Nugent to find the back of the net very soon, for we have seen Derby County getting dismantled owing to the lack of flamboyance and goals their attacker pile up against their opponents.
On the right-wing, we expect Tom Ince to start the proceedings and on the left flank, Abdoul Camara to beef Derby County’s attack in what promises to be a cracking fixture.
Predicted Line-Up:
Carson
Christie-Keogh-Pearce -Lowe
Hughes-de Sart-Johnson
Ince-Nugent-Camara
