“We’re not a million miles away” – Eustace eyes Wrexham after international break reset
After an extended international break, Mo Fuseini’s late equaliser at Burnley could easily feel like a lifetime ago for John Eustace. But instead, the exploits of the Union Saint Gilloise loanee, who has been away with Ghana, are still on his mind.
Or rather, the reaction to it. During Thursday’s 25-minute pre-match press conference at Moor Farm, Eustace heaped praise on the Rams fans and suggested he could follow their requests to see the number 16 start against Wrexham.
“Well, I wouldn't dare not! I got hammered for not starting last week. No, I think, listen, let's wait and see. He's had a lot of travel.”
It is one of many selection headaches that the 46-year-old faces, generally for the wrong reasons, as he looks to steer his injury-hit side through a packed run of seven games in four weeks before the next international break.
This, and the collapsed Turki Alalshikh takeover are why, as Eustace puts it, “the remit is probably a little bit different now from where we are”.
He explained: “I think it's going to be very difficult to build on last season. Obviously when you look at the squad and how everyone else has improved in areas. The most important thing for me is that we don't gamble, we don't throw money away. If we can't chase the dream this year then there's no problems, we have to start again and look to build a really competitive team that over the next two or three years is going to be together.”
There was reference to missing out on Birmingham wingers Patrick Roberts and Liam Millar (with the latter joining on loan from Hull in the summer). But there appears to be a broad acceptance Derby need to look forward focusing on the situation they are in, not the one they could or should have been in.
As Eustace did so successfully when he first arrived in the dugout, he must work with the limited resources at his disposal to find a way to win.
And to that point, three weeks on the training pitch - the opportunity for pre-season 2.0 with some of the later arrivals and rest for others where required - has been positive according to Eustace.
He said: “It's been great. It's given us an opportunity to work with the group that's available to work with and the boys have been fantastic. Their attitude has been very good and being able to work on a few things that individuals need and also being able to work with the units collectively that we've also needed as well.
“We've worked on a lot of defending, a lot of good work without the ball. That small group that we've been able to work with over the last three weeks have been excellent.”
Rebuilding a strong defensive foundation will be vital if the Rams are to push up the table, which could then be further bolstered by players returning from injury. Captain Lewis Travis is fit once more, and Henrik Meister is back from a concussion. The biggest boost could perhaps be the return of American international forward Patrick Agyemang, who has been out since April with an Achilles injury. “He’s probably three or four weeks away from joining in with the group,” Eustace told Rams TV on Thursday.
For now, though, there are still more questions than answers regarding selection. Not least at left back.
The big left back question
I would normally categorise autumn transfer talk similarly to playing Christmas songs at this time of year. The suitable response is: “It’s October for goodness’ sake!” You will already be bored of it by the time the big day, or month in this case, comes.
But the lack of fit left backs may just end up forcing Derby to dip into the free agent market. This despite Eustace’s admission that “they're free agents for a reason”, and getting “an impact straight away will be difficult”.
Derry Murkin and Craig Forsyth remain long-term absentees, and Eiran Cashin, who can also cover there, will miss another few weeks. Now the extent of Charlie Taylor’s injury has been confirmed too. The 33-year-old, who limped off against former club Burnley last month, has been nursing that hamstring injury throughout the international break and it is expected to keep him on the sidelines for a little while longer.
Eustace explained: “He's obviously going to be missing for the next three or four weeks, I think it's a bit of a bad one on his hamstring.”
So, that leaves winger-turned-wingback Ryan Hedges, whose ability to fill in on the left side of defence was referenced when he signed in August following Murkin’s latest injury, and right back Max Johnston. The 22-year-old Scot has filled in on the left on a handful of occasions and Eustace is confident that he can live up to his multi-million-pound price tag in time.
He said: “Initially, at the football club, I thought he did fairly well. Unfortunately, he had a really long injury, a muscle injury. The way he plays is very robust, very quick, very athletic.
“The future is going to be very bright for Max. It's important that we get the right balance for him to come through this period.”
Here is a snapshot of the plates a manager must spin. Player development, fitness and load management, not to mention tactical fit. This will be particularly important given the way that Wrexham’s wing backs like to exploit space out wide in transition. Does a right-footed left back allow the likes of Issa Kabore to have a field day?
Wrexham
Fittingly for a club who have just bought the famous pub next to their ground, Wrexham’s season started like Derby’s; the request was simply “same again please”. Owing to the play-off expansion, their seventh-place finish would this year be enough to have a shot at promotion. But like Derby, Phil Parkinson’s men have made a slower start than hoped with two wins, four draws and two defeats. Albeit they have faced some tough opponents and are five points better off than Derby in 14th.
The similarities do not end there, though. Parkinson, like Eustace, wants to play defensively solid football. He is happy to let the opposition have the ball and hit them on the counter. Like Derby at their best last season too, set pieces are a huge part of their efficient playstyle but both sides have struggled to defend dead balls, ranking in percentiles one (Derby) and 23 (Wrexham) respectively for opposition set piece xG.
While Eustace said on Thursday that “there's no credit in the bank” from last season, that is certainly not the case for Parkinson, who has guided Wrexham from the National League to the second tier. Like at Derby though, there is a growing sense that their season needs a jump start.
Fearless in Devotion’s Andy Gilpin highlights that Wrexham found themselves in the exact same position when they left DE24 with three points back in January.
He explained: “Last season we came to Pride Park, we won. It set in motion a four-game winning streak. It set us up for [the rest of] the season.”
Meanwhile, in expressing his view that Derby first must get to 50 points, Eustace returned to the form of last winter. He will hope that his players can do similar on Saturday.
Jack got more Wrexham insights from Andy in our preview podcast.
Comments