The Opposition
Derby’s most recent season in the Premier League back in 2007/08 saw the Rams pick up just one win all season and, famously, only eleven points across the entire campaign. As County fans licked their wounds from that, they would have imagined that things couldn’t possibly get much worse. But, after fourteen consecutive seasons in the Championship following that glimpse of the top flight, they would be proven very wrong.
The club were plunged into administration in 2021/22, deducted a total of twenty one points and were, inevitably, sent back to a level that they hadn’t seen since 1986. Liam Rosenior took over for the start of the 2022/23 season but lasted mere weeks until Paul Warne took over to steady a ship that had looked completely out of control.
A mid-season turn around saw the Rams win seven games out of eight in the league between mid-December and early February but a poor run of form and a defeat to Sheffield Wednesday on the final day cost them a place in the playoffs so Warne has now had to settle the fan base once more as they look to bounce back to the Championship at the second attempt.
It’s not been plain sailing. Warne came out and said his players were failing recently after they slid into mid-table and a 3-1 defeat at Stevenage on Saturday did nothing to allay the anger of Rams fans. They, like the Cobblers, need a response on Tuesday night.
Last Time Out
Derby were beaten 3-1 at Stevenage on Saturday and the Cobblers fell to a 2-1 defeat aT Bristol Rovers.
One To Watch
Northern Ireland international Connor Washington is leading the line at the moment for the Rams and brings plenty of experience from League One and above from the last few years.
Washington broke into league football with Newport County before spending time with Peterborough, QPR, Sheffield United, Hearts, Charlton and Rotherham before signing for Derby in the summer. He’s found the net twice so far for his new club.
Team News
Derby Midfielder Liam Thompson is progressing well in his recovery from a quad injury but is still a number of weeks away from a return. Tyreece John-Jules has been out with a similar issue but is getting closer to returning to training. Defender Jake Rooney has undergone surgery on his damaged ACL and will be out of action for a longer period. Martyn Waghorn pulled up after training at the end of last week with a hamstring issue so is likely out as well.
The Cobblers have been without Jon Guthrie, Jack Sowerby and Louis Appéré but they’re all on the way back so may yet be included in the squad. Keiron Bowie serves the second game of his three game suspension while Max Dyche, Ben Fox, Tyler Magoire and Danny Hylton are long term absentees.
Line-Up Prediction
Match Officials
Simon Mather is the referee on Tuesday night. Mather was last in charge of a Cobblers game in our 1-1 draw at home to Stevenage in April. Johnathon Bickerdike and Sian Massey-Ellis are running the lines and Declan Bourne is fourth official.
Prediction
I’ve got a funny feeling we can nick something here. Home fans will be on edge from the off and if we can keep things tighter than we did in the first half on Saturday and frustrate them for long periods we could get a result. 0-0
A Cobblers fan all his life, Danny is the most down to earth football supporter from Northampton.
While at university in Southampton, Danny kept up to date with all things NTFC from afar, sharing his thoughts on his ‘A Load Of Cobblers’ online blog.
