Derby 2 Reading 0 - Capital One Cup

Its pleasing to see us progress to the last sixteen in the Capital One Cup. Weve waited six years to reach this stage and the last time that we did, we got to the semi finals.

It was another strong showing despite Steve McClaren making six changes to the starting line up.

It was inevitable that Jordon Ibe would get a start. After his impressive appearance off the bench on saturday, McClaren would have probably wanted to get a closer look at him in competetive action.

Ibe certainly made a good impression and is rightly getting rave reviews.

Kelle Roos got a first start in goal and did what was needed. He didnt have the busiest of nights.

With Johnny Russell scoring and having a good game, it really does leave us with plenty of options in the wide roles.

The attendance of 18,000+ was very good for this stage of the competition. The heavily discounted tickets being well received by the fans.

We wait until tonights draw to see who we play in the next round, but we must now focus on the away trip to Bolton and hopefully three points.

Derby 2 Cardiff 2

It must been a while since ive seen Derby dominate a game in this fashion and not got three points.

Apart from a spell of about ten minutes in the second half, this was all about Derby. Seventy five per cent posession really do pint a true picture of who was running the show. Its was Cardiff who went two goals to the good in the second half though. 

Ten minutes of madness cost us two points! Moments like these could prove to be very costly towrds the end of the season.

However, lets not reflect for too long thise ten minutes, for this was in every other way yet another masterful performance.

Cyrus Christie once again shined especially when we were on the attack and once again got my vote as man of the match.

Richard Keogh is starting to look like his old self again. He executed a brillaint tackle in the second half whilst chasing back a Cardiff attack.

The players for me who didnt really shine were Craig Forsyth who didnt have one of his better games and Zak Whitbread who lost possession of the ball which lead to the second Cardiff goal.

Jordon Ibe certainly looked the part when he came on as a substitute in the scond half and took his goal well!

Overall a very good performance, but defensive errors must be ironed out. There is a growing feeling amongst many fans that another natural centre half might be needed to be added to the squad.

On to Reading at home in the Capital One Cup tomorrow. Perhaps a start for Ibe and Calero?

Blackburn 2 Derby 3 - after match thoughts

Derby hadn't won at Blackburn since 2001 before last nights fixture kicked off and within fifty seconds of the game game kicking off they were behind to a goal from Marshall. His shot was deflected in and looped over Lee Grant after taking a deflection off Richard Keogh who had attempted to block it.

The Rams then when on full attack and Jamie Ward soon scored an equaliser after nine minutes. Some good work down the left by Dawkins found Bryson who crossed in for Ward to hammer home.

Will Hughes put Derby ahead on forty five minutes when he went for goal on the edge of the box. It was another game where Hughes looked a class act and will be one that Premier League scouts will no doubt be taking note of.

Ward extended the lead to 3-1 when he curled a shot in after an hour. Derby looked like they might even score more. Both Ward and Martin had chances to pile on the agony for Blackburn.

This was a very pleasing display against a very good side. The whole Derby side played well, particularly Zak Whitbread who came in for the suspended Jake Buxton. I would suggest that it would be very harsh to leave the American out for Saturdays game against Cardiff.

Blackburn did pull a goal back towards the end of the game courtesy of Gestede and went close very soon after that, but a first away win in the League for Derby sees them now just outside the too six and looking to March on and impose themselves in the Championship race.

It was important to get a result last night. A defeat could have delayed yet again our attempt to break into the the leading pack for a top six place.

Our football was near and at times looked more like that of last season.

Cardiff should be a good test on Saturday and another win will show that Derby mean business!

Grasping the problems with Grass Roots!

It was announced today that Nottingham will be the first city to be awarded the 'City of Football' title that brings much needed funds into the game at a grass roots level.

Banter aside, this is a good thing for the East Midlands. I'm sure that Nottingham Forest, Notts County, Mansfield Town and even our own Derby County could reap some rewards from this. We are only 15 miles away and have had plenty of Nottingham lads progress through our academy.

Good as this might be though, the game at grass roots level has been under invested in for years on end.

I will make an example of my youngest son aged 10 and what he had to go through to make it into a squad for this season.

Firstly towards the end of last season he went to training sessions for one of the local clubs in Lincoln. North Lindum Hawks are one of a few clubs within our area that cater for under-11's to play the game.

He then attended all open training sessions held on Saturdays throughout the summer. He was lucky enough to be accepted into the team and now trains on a Friday night and plays on a Sunday.

Simple you might say! Well not quite! There were more lads wanting to play for the team than places available. Also, it comes at a cost! Eighty pounds a season plus a pound a week for training and then the travelling costs for away games.

The team play in the Mid-Lincs League and are in the top division. There's a few sides who are only a few minutes away. A handful play in or just outside of the city. There are, however, a few journeys of 30 miles or more. Retford who are in Nottinghamshire have just moved up a division adding to the travelling costs.

I will do everything that I can to help my son enjoy the sport, but the cost of playing for some families is prohibitive! Especially in times of austerity. 

Team kit is supplied, but there is the added cost of boots which have a short life with a growing lad, pads, trainers or astro turf boots for the winter sessions on 3G pitches.

The cost of some of today's boots is shocking! Up to £100 for a pair of fluorescent coloured Nike's made in some third world sweat shop! Luckily my son is more than happy with £30 Puma Kings.

The game has got to be made more affordable for youngsters and it needs re-introducing into our schools as a main activity! My sons school does very little football. In over a year he's had a tournamount and that's about your lot!

In the days of massive wages and impending financial fair play regulations which look like bringing in millions through fines with non complying clubs, isn't it time to out more money back into the game at the entrance level.

Players earning mega bucks could contribute more through a grass roots tax! FFP fines could be passed on to boys and girls clubs!

Football is a simple game and should be available to everyone to play, but currently we aren't serving our future generations very well.

Nottingham Forest 1 Derby 1 - Post match verdict

We went into the latest Est Midlands Derby as slight underdogs. Whilst we have had a steady if unspectacular start to the season, our rivals sit tip unbeaten and up to yesterday hadn't even conceded a goal at home.

The first half was pretty much about our hosts. They showed more creativity and closed us down well when we did have the ball. Antonio was a handful and Ryan Shotton was given a hard time by the Forest winger.

The game as usual was very physical. Buxton, Shotton, Eustace, Reid and Lansbury all put in some very physical challenges.

Derby stepped up a gear in the second half and showed that they weren't happy to settle for a scrambled point. However, it was the home side who finally broke the deadlock late on in the game. Antonio crossed for Assombalongs who slipped initially, but recovered to provide a quality finish into the corner of the net.

Forest's joy was short liver though as the Rams replied minutes later. A Richard Keogh header hit the bar and Ryan Shotton hit the rebound which was palmed away by Darlow only for Leon Best to smack in what he thought was his first goal for Derby. TV replays however, showed the strike by Shotton had crossed the line.

The drama wasn't over! Shortly afterwards Jake Buxton received his second yellow card after he fouled Assombalonga and then went in hard on Burke after the ref had blown. In all honesty he might have gone earlier in the game and Henri Lansbury too was fortunate to stay on the field after a nasty looking challenge on Will Hughes.

All in all a draw seemed a fair result. It was a hard fought match and both sides showed the resilience that is need to have a successful season.

There were many performances of note, but for me Will Hughes was the best player in a white shirt.

East Midlands Derby Preview

In four days time the latest meeting of the East Midlands biggest two clubs take place at the City Ground in Nottingham.

Forest are currently unbeaten and sit at the top of the championship table whilst our Rams side are currently seventh after a slower start to the campaign.

Last season saw Forest edge us out by a Jack Hobbs goal in the away fixture, though to be honest they thoroughly deserved the win and the return game at the iPro saw Derby dish out a 5-0 thrashing to our rivals.

Many excuses have been made for that defeat including the claim we were playing a team of reserves.

It's true that they had players injured, but the side that they put out should have been capable of making a game of it.

Karl Darlow is their first choice goalkeeper and is actually now on loan to them having completed a multi million pound transfer to Newcastle along with Jamal Lascelles, a Derby born lad.

Gonzalo Jara played in the World Cup and Danny Fox completed a permanent move to the City Ground in the summer. 

Danny Collins is an experienced centre half. Far more so than Keogh and Buxton. The midfield contained players who had been with the club for a few years. Radoslaw Majewski and Guy Moussi who played in the City Ground fixture as well.

Jamie Mackie was a million pound signing, though he has since departed to Reading on loan.

Jamie Patterson very highly rated by many Reds fans. Jonathan Greening obviously in the twilight of his career, but was one of the better opposition players and Simon Cox a £2.5m signing.

Forest have strengthened in the summer under the management of Stuart Pearce. Michael Mancienne, Jack Hunt, Micael Antonio and big money signing Britt Assombalonga are amongst those who have joined the Pearce revolution.

There's no doubting the quality of their squad and they have one capable of going up automatically!

That's if, they can stay clear of injuries. Cohen, Lichaj, Lansbury, Fryatt, Hobbs, Vaughan and Wilson have all struggled with injuries in the past few months. Keep most of them fit and I think they are bankers for promotion. If not, they will face the play off lottery.

Our Derby side has had a slow and unspectacular start to the season. It was always going to be a hard ask to start as we finished last season.

The next three games will say a lot about our team. Forest, a resurgent Blackburn and Cardiff. You won't get a harder trio of fixtures than that!

We haven't really gotten started yet and is very important to get some points out of these games.

What we do need is a Plan B! We need the ability to switch to 4-4-2 rather than keep to 4-3-3. 

We need to be able to play people like Leon Best in his natural central position rather than out wide.

There's also a lot of talent in the development squad that's knocking on the door of the first team. Alefe Santos and Ivan Calero impressed against. Charlton in the. League Cup. They may still be young, but isn't Will Hughes? 

Jordon Ibe will give us more width, but we must use him.

We come up against the strongest midfield in the league on Sunday and our three will have their work cut out.

Our defence will have to be on top of it's game too! Especially our full backs who will face Antonio and Burke. For me this is a game for Ryan Shotton to start, but Steve McClaren will do what he feels best.

A point from the game will be a very good result! A win would be just sensational!

Derby 1 Ipswich 1 - After match thoughts

We started this game well enough and for the first twent minutes or so were dominating.

Jamie Ward was giving the visitors plenty to worry about and when Chris Martin scored his fourth goal of the season it looked like another rout could be on the cards.

That was until Jeff Hendrick dislocated his shoulder and regrettably had to leave the game. This seemed to upset the balance in the side.

From them on Ipswich moved up a gear and started to get back into the game. They were the better side in the second half and it was no surprise at all to see them equalise.

The Tractor Boys did look the more likely of the two sides to snatch a victory as the game went on too!

It's still early days, but there are some questions that need to be answered for the Rams.

it was always going to be difficult replicating the form of last season from the off, however we seemed to have turned full circle.

Forsyth, Bryson and Hughes were simply awful on Saturday.

We waste set piece chances still and are very weak at defending from them.

Ryan Shotton impressed in the cup game v Charlton as did Ivan Calero. Neither played a part on Saturday. 

Our next game away at Forest will be the hardest of the season so far. A performance like that will see nothing but a humiliating hiding at our rivals.

Jordon Ibe has been brought in, and there's other options too, but how many changes could the side take before losing all pattern and balance.

One thing is for sure is that Jeff Hendrick will be out for a few weeks and that's another hole that'll need filling.

Zak Whitbread has impressed in the cup games and must be wondering what he has to do to get into a league starting line up. Especially as Keogh is not at his best and Buxton is struggling with injury.

A lot of homework is in need during the international break.