Full House for the Rams

Derby County 3 (Martin 20, Russell 22, Hughes 78)
Leeds United 1 (Pearce 45)

After holding on for victory over Bournemouth last week Leeds fans and manager alike will have hoped to continue the recovery with a result against Derby. Before the match, the tension was tantamount to that of a high stakes poker game. Derby, on this occasion, were dealt the better hand.

The form guide is not on the Whites side however having not won a point against the Rams since 2006 and not won since 2005. Derby had won the last nine consecutive matches coming into this weekends fixture. Just as with poker at bwin a losing streak is never good and Leeds will have hoped to break that on Saturday.

Brian McDermott named an unchanged side from the mid-week game against Bournemouth with Scott Wootton still not featuring in the squad and millionaire man Luke Murphy only making the bench. They say in poker you should play your best hand which makes it all the more surprising McDermott left these two signings out of the starting eleven. Tim Lees and Jason Pearce paired up in the centre of defence and Noel Hunt and Ross McCormack lead the line.

The game started badly for Leeds when Will Hughes was dealt a good hand after a scuffed Paddy Kenny clearance only to see his chipped effort go just over the bar. Captain Rodolph Austin fired a shot over the bar, a sight many Leeds fans will be fed up of seeing in recent matches.

On twenty minutes Chris Martin broke into the box and back heeled the ball to Craig Bryson, as three defenders when to close down Bryson they left Martin unmarked in the box who fired the ball into the back of Paddy Kennys net after receiving the return pass. 1-0 Derby. Three minutes later it got worse for Leeds. Chris Martin broke and back heeled the ball again, this time into the path of Johnny Russell ahead of the chasing defence who slotted the ball home to make it 2-0.

Hope was not lost though and just before half time Jason Pearce struck back for Leeds. Alex Mowatt played a deep free kick into the area, Derby keeper Lee Grant flapped and Jason Pearce headed the ball into the back of the unguarded net. 2-1 at the break.

The second half was went much the same way as the first with Derby on top and Leeds creating little in the way of good chances. Brian McDermott went all in by bringing on Hunt, Poleon and Diouf but they were unable to level the score for Leeds. With 12 minutes to go Will Hughes took the ball into the box, as the defence backed off some fancy footwork and a bluff enabled him to get a shot off and make the score 3-1 to Derby.

A bad day at the office for LUFC. Brian McDermott played his cards close to his chest after the game, he told the BBC;

"You are disappointed when you lose the first goal, which we have done too many times this season. We need to get a mentality away from home where we are very difficult to play against and we weren't today. We need a winning mentality. When I was at Reading two years ago when we hardly had any points on the board after 10 games and we just clicked into place and we worked on that."

The recent run of results is certainly worrying fans and they are questioning the team selection. Noel Hunt has certainly been ineffective this season and Ross McCormack unconvincing since signing his new contract. Despite a first game of the season Paul Green has not been on form recently and he has a tendency to give the ball away. When the chips are down the players are just not performing at the moment. Why was Scott Wootton not even in the squad, why is Luke Murphy on the bench and why did Luke Varney not start given his performances this season? Alex Mowatt continues to impress though, a diamond in the rough.

They key though is not to panic, if we are honest we knew this season was never going to be about challenging for promotion. I’m certain Brian McDermott is the man for the job and he needs the time and money to build a squad. There are weaknesses in the squad though, an out and out striker and a wide midfielder must be on McDermotts shopping list but he needs backing.

Chairman Nooruddin says they are close to attracting further investment to the club. He claims the investment could take Leeds to the “next level”. Speaking to the BBC he said, "We are very particular as to the quality and type of investor we want to bring in. But we have reached a situation where I would say we are close to engaging with one." Recent rumours suggest the clubs finances are down to the felt and that but investment is definitely required to push on, and the evidence against Derby was clear.

Derby Line-up:
Grant, Smith, Forsyth, Bryson (Buxton 89), Keogh, Martin (Sammon 79), Ward (Bennett 68), Russell, Eustace, Hughes
Unused Subs: Deeney, Davies, Jacobs, Freeman.

Leeds Line-up:
Kenny, Peltier, Lees, Pearce, Warnock, Austin, Green (Poleon 62), Mowatt, Tonge (Diouf 76), McCormack, Hunt (Smith 62)
Unused Subs: Cairns, Byram, Murphy, Varney