[themaclad]

Pre Season promotion contenders Derby are next up at Deepdale, having surprisinglylost at Barnsly on Saturday they will be looking for a more positive result against the mighty Whites.
Having majestically collapsed when well placed in the last two seasons when well placed it was probably no surprise to hear Pearson say after Saturday's defeat at Oakwell that the players lack confidence. General consensus is that the Rams have some quality players but tend not to play as a tream, it may take Pearson a while to turn them into the real deal but he is the man for the job although better not take them on a tour of Thailand, his son might get into trouble.
They have not made any major signings during the close period therefore Pearson has already sussed out they have enough quality in the squad to get them up.
North End nemesis Chris Martin only a substitute on Saturday as was Russell who ran us ragged last season at Deepdale when the Rams won 2-1.
The Rams have yet to score in the league this season although Keogh potted the only goal against Grimsby in the League Cup. Expect if he plays Tom Ince to get a shed load of abuse after all it is a tradition.
North End still lack a right back and anybody in midfield who can tackle, there is also the speculation whether Joe Garner will still be a North End player following a possible bid form Rangers. Another defeat will have the keyboard warriors venting fury towrds everyone connected with the club, suspect we will get to the international break with zero points, post Brexit lack of wins will be the excuse. A toughie this one as they all are in this division, need to start progressing or we could be struggling.

Derby last three DWL 18th
North End last three LWL 22nd

Next three for Derby

Aston Villa H
Carlisle United H (Cup)
Burton Albion A

Next three for North End
QPR A
Oldham Athletic H (Cup)
Ipswich Town (A)

[themaclad]

A cruel late goal denied North End a point, when Forsyth headed home a Hughes cross three minutes from the end to give Derby the points. It was a game North End did not deserve to lose although in truth they did not deserve to win it either.
North End made two changes from Saturday's defeat to Fulham, with Beckford and Robinson replacing Johnson and the Rangers bound Garner.
Derby made the early running and were helped twice by poor passes which let in Russell and Martin but both finished poorly leaving Lindegaard untroubled, there was a let off for the home side, when they gave the one footed show pony Ince way too much space from a quickly taken corner, Ince curled his shot from 20 yards against the post with the ball being cleared too safety.This spurred the home side on and Robinson who had an excellent first half started to pose problems to the Rams, he forced a shot which drew a good save from Carson(it was our only shot on target). North End started to dominate and went close from a corner which Browne headed over, apart from another Ince shot which was easily saved Derby posed little threat at the other end.
Second half was more open, Martin gotaway down the right, he looked offside and forced a fine save from Lindegaard, he also had a header which went over the bar and a free kick which went safely over the top. For North End Doyle fired in a volley from 25 yards which if it had been on target would probably have beaten Carson and a Clarke header from 45 yards which gave the Derby custodian some problems.
There was the bizarre site of Pringle marking Hughes at a corner, looked like a meeting of Johnny and Edgar Winter(American music mention or Albino convention). As the game got into the later stages it semed certain to end goalless, North End brought on the Danish Peter Crouch (Makienok) and Hugill to boost the height up front but it was the Rams who got the goal. Hughes free on the rigfht hand side, inch perfect cross to Forsyth who easily out jumped Pringle to head the ball into the bottom left corner, cruel indeed. Camera was denied at the death by a brilliant Clarke tackle, a second goal would have been taking the michael. So no home wins since February, only three in the last 16 games and the worst start for 27 years and only the ineptitude of Venky Rovers keeping us off the bottom.

Preston North End 0 Derby County 1 Att 10628

Preston manager Simon Grayson:

"I think those who watched the game will have seen a result that was not a reflection of how the game went.We passed the ball; we defended well and caused them problems. In the second half we were the only team that was going to win it.

"We created opportunities but we couldn't get the breaks when we needed them.

"You have to feel sorry for the players, they've done everything we asked of them. There are lots of positives to take but we got a kick in the teeth.

Derby County boss Nigel Pearson:

"We needed to be disciplined and we needed to show some qualities that we didn't show at the weekend. We created chances throughout the game; we looked very promising and also very tight at the back.

"The system worked pretty well for us. Managing a team is about getting results but when things don't go plan I've got to reflect on things in a balanced way, I can't become emotional.

"We played with a lot of discipline in the midfield. If you're going to come to places like this and get results you've got to play well as a team and we did that."