Friday’s Championship match sees two sides more than likely to be playing in the second tier again next season go head-to-head.
Gary Rowett’s first match in charge of Derby ended in a 2-2 draw with local rivals Nottingham Forest before the international break. Although not losing can be considered a good thing, the new manager will have been gutted to have conceded a last minute equaliser.
Rowett worked wonders at Birmingham before his surprise sacking just before Christmas and this all came from his side being incredibly solid at the back before hitting teams on the counter. Derby were actually defensively sound under previous boss McLaren so it will be interesting to see how Rowett takes this team forward. With a bit more money to spend over the summer than he had at Birmingham, the former Burton Albion manager will probably look to adapt his philosophy a bit, however, I assume he will stick to the tried and trusted until the end of this campaign.
Home form has dwindled for the Rams in recent times and, after seven wins in nine games on home soil – with eight clean sheets in the process, they have now won just one in their last six at the iPro, keeping just one clean sheet. This will be Rowett’s first home match as Derby manager and he will certainly be looking to get off to a good start in turning Pride Park into a fortress – just like he did with St Andrew’s at Birmingham.
The international break came at the wrong time for Queens Park Rangers as, before the pause in fixtures, they were top of the Championship form table based on the last eight games with an average of two points per match.
Ian Holloway has been famed for his sides playing attacking football i recent jobs and he has certainly got his latest team playing that brand. Rangers have only failed to find the back the back of the net once in their last eight matches – scoring 17 in the process. However, this rather attacking philosophy means that QPR are vulnerable at the back and they have kept just one clean sheet since 12th January.
Although QPR have been on a good run, most of this has come on home soil with four wins on the spin. On their travels however, things have been slightly different with just one win in their last five. Furthermore, they have failed to score in two of their last four away and kept just one clean sheet.
Rowett will have had plenty of time to really work with his squad going into this match, as of course will Holloway. The QPR manager has gone on record as saying that what Rowett did at Birmingham was one of the best pieces of management he had ever seen and, unfortunately for Holloway, I think Rowett could get one over him here. Rangers’ away form has been poor and I expect a largely solid Derby side to sufficiently stop QPR’s attack and score against their weak back-line. The home win is worth getting behind at 21/20.
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