Football League World
·25 October 2024
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·25 October 2024
The Rams head into their clash with the Tigers on Saturday off the back of picking up their first two away points of the season.
Derby County will be looking forward to returning to Pride Park on Saturday after picking up their first away points of the season in their last two matches.
The Rams drew 1-1 with both Millwall and Oxford United, and will now be looking for their fifth home victory of the season against Hull City at the weekend.
Paul Warne's side won 2-0 in their last game in DE24, with quickfire goals from Curtis Nelson and Marcus Harness earning Derby all three points against QPR before the international break. However, their clash with the Tigers will bring selection issues for the former Rotherham United boss.
David Ozoh, Jake Rooney, Ryan Nyambe and Tawanda Chirwea will all miss Saturday's game, but it is a problem he faces on the wings with players that he has available that could cause Warne the biggest issue ahead of the 3pm kick-off.
The Rams lined up in a 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 formation against The U's on Tuesday at the Kassam Stadium, with Corey Blackett-Taylor and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing starting on either flank.
Kayden Jackson was introduced to the game just before the hour mark in place of Blackett-Taylor, but struggled to get on the ball, having just 11 touches of it in 33 minutes.
Nevertheless, the 30-year-old has been electric at Pride Park since making the move to the East Midlands in the summer after his Ipswich Town contract expired, scoring three goals in his first three appearances at home in all competitions.
Warne has rotated his wingers in the past week, Mendez-Laing missed out on a place in the starting XI against Millwall last Saturday, so it does suggest that the 51-year-old will switch them up once, with Blackett-Taylor potentially the most likely to miss out against Hull.
Derby's captain, Mendez-Laing, picked up his first goal of the season against Oxford in mid-week, and supporters will be hoping that this will help him start firing after a less than spectacular start to the campaign. But he has proven in the past with the Rams that once he finds the back of the net once, it will continue.
While the attacking prowess of Derby's wingers will be in the mind of Warne, defensively they will need to be extremely strong, especially whoever is played on the right flank.
Nyambe's long-term injury means that the Rams will be severely weakened on that side from a defensive point of view. Kane Wilson is very talented going forward with the ball, but he does leave a lot to be desired at times when the opposition travels with the ball at him.
Therefore, whether it is Blackett-Taylor, Jackson or Mendez-Laing on the right, they will need to make sure they continue to track back and don't leave Wilson vulnerable to being attacked too often, as it is a weakness of his game.
Nonetheless, Derby can apply pressure to this Hull team who are still struggling with some inconsistencies, and at home Warne's side can take the game to anyone in the division, but they must be wary of getting caught down the flanks as they look to make it four unbeaten in the Championship.