“It's not where we want to be” – Derby to continue hunt for first home win against Stoke
Is this must win?
April’s 2-0 home win over Stoke is a distant memory: Derby have won just once at Pride Park since.
“We realise we haven't won enough home games up to now,” Eustace said in Thursday’s pre-match press conference. “But again, it's a new challenge now on Saturday and it's important that we just go and be as positive as we can and be as competitive as we can and see where it takes us.”
It is well documented that the Rams’ squad is depleted, with Sondre Langås the latest to suffer a blow. He went off with a groin problem after just 10 minutes against QPR and will miss the next three months according to the Derby boss.
Eustace explained: “He's had his scans and unfortunately, he's going to be out for roughly 12, 13 weeks. So, you know, it's a big blow to us. Of course, it is. But it gives somebody an opportunity now to step in if there is anyone.
“But, you know, I think Ryan [Nyambe] came in yesterday [Wednesday] for his first minutes for a long, long time and he was great.”
It is expected that the right back, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Reading will continue in the centre of defence with Derby’s only fit senior centre back Dion Sanderson. But Ireland youth international Raymond Offor is in Eustace’s thoughts too.
“Raymond was certainly coming to my thinking. I'm sure he'll be on the bench on Saturday, but we've also got to protect the young lad as well.
“We're in a difficult situation and I think to throw him in at the moment would be unfair on him, but you never know.”
Ryan Hedges is likely to cover at left back too, but Eustace did highlight that the former Aberdeen man has just completed “his first back-to-back 90 minutes over a year, I think. So, you know, it's going to be a big ask to see if he's available for Saturday as well”.
Parallels have been drawn to the situation Mark Robins found himself in at Stoke last season. There is only so much that a manager can do with seven first team defenders injured – fans have sympathy with that. But Eustace’s task will be to cobble together a functioning defence, and crucially, get more goals out of his forward players. And he insists that he cannot let the pressure get to him.
“No, I don't feel the pressure. I feel frustrated and angry, as simple as that. It's not where we want to be. It's my responsibility to get results, no matter what anyone says or thinks.”
Comparisons to last term’s slow start have been a theme of this season so far. After 10 games, Derby had one just once but were two points better off. They came into matchday 11 following the dismal defeat at Oxford. But they responded with a second-half comeback against Norwich to secure their first home win of the campaign, which sparked a five-game winning run.
An important caveat is that Derby had been boosted by the return of key men such as Langås and Patrick Agyemang by that point. And significant returns are not expected until after the next international break.
But now the Rams are at a point where continuing to replicate last season would do them the world of good.
Stoke
Mark Robins’ side sit ninth after 10 games. Before Tuesday night’s 3-2 home defeat to Middlesbrough, the Potters were on a seven-game unbeaten run, in which time they won six games. Quite the recovery after losing their first three games; albeit those were to league leaders Swansea, Southampton and Wolves.
The Potters’ best football comes as a counter-attacking side. They rank 20th in the division for average possession, while being joint-fifth for goals scored. Derby, by contrast rank 14th and 21st respectively.
But their underlying attacking numbers are week, with a cumulative xG of 9.80 ranking them 23rd in the division, a place and 0.1xG behind the Rams. This means that in contrast to Derby, who are underperforming their xG, Stoke are outperforming theirs by almost double.
Key to their attacks are wing backs Eric Bocat and Ben Johnson, while £10m summer signing Ethan Galbraith has formed a strong midfield partnership with Djibril Soumaré. Goals have been shared throughout the squad; Galbraith is their top scorer with three.
With Stoke having conceded in each of their last five games, there is scope for Derby to get at the Potters, though.
Comments