Football – England – Championship
Saturday 30th August 2014 – Kickoff: 1500hrs
Derby County secured their second win in three days on Tuesday night when they edged out fellow Championship side Charlton Athletic 1-0 in the second round of the Capital One Cup.
The Rams have now taken their place in the third round of the competition for the second year running with a goal from Spanish youth player Calero who came off the bench to score the winner, and former Newcastle United striker Leon Best also made his debut.
Manager Steve McClaren made six changes to the side that demolished Fulham 5-1 at the weekend but he may revert back to the starting eleven from last Saturday here this afternoon. Forward Jamie Ward has recently secured a new deal and has repaid his manager with 3 goals so far this term. With fellow striker Chris Martin and the creative goalscoring midfielder Craig Bryson also chipping in, The Rams look likely to take the points here today.
Visitors Ipswich Town will need to pick themselves up quickly following their east anglian derby defeat at home to bitter rivals Norwich City 0-1 last Saturday as they make their way to the iPro Stadium today.
The Tractor Boys have now failed to win in their last four matches in all competitions as they’ve lost to League Two side Crawley Town in the League Cup, and then suffered defeats in the Championship away at Reading 0-1 and Saturday’s defeat to The Canaries. In between, they grabbed a point at Birmingham City, but they’ll face a tough test here this afternoon.
Ipswich have actually failed to win in their last four away matches in the Championship with additional losses at Watford 1-3 and Burnley 0-1, both of these defeats coming at the end of last season.
Derby County asserted their authority over a disappointing Fulham outfit last Saturday, against a team that were touted as being among the favourites for automatic promotion back up to the Premier League. The Rams have found their goalscoring touch and I’ll back them to take the points here today against an ipswich side who have struggled on the road of late. Derby to nick this perhaps 2-1.
Pick: Derby County straight win @ 1.74 Pinnacle
