Derby County v Palace

Pride Park, Saturday 3.00pm

The Football League

Story so far

Derby County. I've nothing but dread for this fixture. Why? Well the last person to score a winner there for us was Tommy Black. We're bound to concede a last minute penalty and I have bad memories about walking into Derby Station via the railway lines and being threatened with arrest. But never mind that.

Fortunately we're on a little bit of a purple patch at the moment. Apart from the dismal effort versus QPR, we've looked capable of scoring, capable of defending and even capable of a little entertainment.

Here's the good news - Derby have only kept one clean sheet at home this season. Hopefully our creativity will shine through a little bit and we can stay tight at the back. A touch of bad news - Derby haven't lost at home since August.

We're not doing too badly defensively at the moment either. There are only 6 teams with a better defensive record than us - 3 of which are in the top 6 and the other 3 are sitting just above us in the table.

Team news

Alan Lee has his sights on a first team recall after spending two months out with a hamstring injury.

Full-back Lee Hills (knee) and midfielders Carl Fletcher (back) and Neil Danns (ankle) are still sidelined for the Eagles.

Derby striker Nathan Ellington will compete with Luke Varney for a place in attack. Paul Green won't play after he broke two fingers in the 1-0 Carling Cup victory over Stoke City in midweek.

Derby County - league stats

Full league table

Derby County - current form

Full form table

Our away record v Derby County

Last five results

Date	Type	Home Team	Score	Away Team
29/04/2007	League	Crystal Palace	2 - 0	Derby County
16/12/2006	League	Derby County	1 - 0	Crystal Palace
25/03/2006	League	Derby County	2 - 1	Crystal Palace
28/12/2005	League	Crystal Palace	2 - 0	Derby County
21/02/2004	League	Derby County	2 - 1	Crystal Palace

All time results

One to watch

Luke Varney

Well I was going to say Paul Green but he's gone and got himself injured.

Now Varney has left Charlton, he's bound to start scoring a goal or two. He's got a couple of good feet and is half decent in the air but shouldn't be relied on as a targetman.

At his best, he runs on to fick-ons and knock-downs, hits the channels or picks the ball up from deep.

Ref watch

Michael Oliver (Northumberland) is the youngest referee on the senior circuit. He's following in his father Clive's footsteps, who is also a league official.

38 yellows and 3 reds in 16 games.

Last meeting

Palace 2-0 Derby County

Sunday April 29 2007

Palace: Speroni, Lawrence, Hudson, Cort, Borrowdale, McAnuff, Watson, Fletcher, Kennedy, Morrison (Ifill, 77), Kuqi (Scowcroft, 74)

Subs not used: Kiraly, Freedman, Butterfield

Goals: Morrison 29, Kennedy 67

Derby County: Camp, Edworthy (Mears, 46), Leacock, Nyatanga, McEveley, Teale, Jones, Oakley, Barnes (Lupoli, 51), Currie (Fagan, 65), Howard

Subs not used: Grant, Pearson

Bookings: Howard

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