Anag Ram

He’s dangerous enough in that sense. I love his desire but he’s a bit like an old Labrador now. Tongue out, enjoying his run, but getting nowhere quickly. If the ball comes his way in the box and he has time, he will give it a whack but those chances that came his way at the start of the season are fairly rare.

That does look as dangerous as we can make it, allowing for injuries. I would probably reverse Ward and Wilson as I think Kane works better from deep positions and is the better defender. Having Collins and NML back soon does give me some comfort.

League One is a tough old slog. 46 games, most of which are likely to be very physical. With our budget we can afford either older players whose best days are behind them or bright prospects with a flaw (often injury-related). No surprise then that some drop out due to injury. I think NML perhaps came back too soon after his foot injury. Collins has done well to last as long as he has without injury. The two Ws haven’t really featured much at all and have only briefly shown any spark. We aren’t the only team with injuries. Bolton, for example, have a load too. It’s that type of league.

We didn’t get past the first episode. Interesting scenario ruined by unlikely characters and a lack of subtlety. We didn’t believe in it enough to continue.

Both Ward and Wilson deserve to play but they don’t seem to play well together. Not sure if it would work with Wilson behind Ward but it hasn’t worked the other way around. Ward’s set pieces are definitely goal threats and heaven knows we need those.

Should be a great atmosphere again on Friday. Hope PW and DC can offer a big bonus to anyone who scores a goal.

Push pineapple, shake the tree! Sorry, I’ll let others give a sensible answer.

Clowes might be working on getting additional financial backing. We could have a bright young striker ‘sponsored by Asda’

I thought Fapetu showed promise. I’d rather have him than have Waghorn lolloping around like a fat angry bee 🐝 We need a bit more dynamism. Weston is good but might struggle physically. It’s a gamble, but then so is playing older strikers who are not fully fit.

Perhaps he’s been on holiday. A Fornah-cation.

Bradley’s better performances were as part of a three man central defence against weaker opposition. Against anyone with strength he will struggle. He’s fine tidying up behind two proper defenders but he gets exposed when one on one.

TBF he was only one letter out.

Missed two great chances.

I’m struggling to see how we are going to score goals between now and the end of the season. Collins will take a while to get back to form. NML was his main supply line and a goal scorer himself. Waghorn is just a wrecking ball and will get sent off soon. Washington isn’t really a goal scorer. It’s looking a bit grim but this season has thrown up many surprises. 4-3-3 at least gives us a better balance. I think Warne recognises our midfield is weak, hence the 5-3-2. Let’s hope Smith and Thompson can find some form to give us the momentum we need.

TV 1Wildsmith 6 35Nelson 6 5Bradley 4 6Cashin 6 2Wilson 6.5 32Adams 5.5 12Smith 5 4Hourihane 5 17Sibley 5 20Elder 6 23Ward 6 10Waghorn 3 16Thompson 5 27Blackett-Taylor 6 11Méndez-Laing 5 14Washington 4 Just realised I haven’t given anyone even a seven. That type of game.

Trying to stretch for awful passes

Budge up

You are of course right but it doesn’t hurt for a bit of spleen to be vented at times like these. What concerned me today was not so much the poor performances but the brainless way we went about trying to score. Eddie Waring would have had a field day 🪖🥾

You shouldn’t need to aim for anyone if you’re putting balls across the six yard box. That’s where our players should be. Where they actually are you’d need laser guided crosses to find.

Having Conor Washington back is like Julian Clary pitching up for the Spartans.

Best moment of the day. This could save our season. Ban him for six months.

In what world is a long ball game going to work with Washington up front?

How has the stick insect stayed on?

Are Derby bottlers? We’ll see in this next 25 minutes