Chris Cohen believes that Derby County are ‘one of the best teams in the Championship’ ahead of the League Cup clash tomorrow afternoon.
City couldn’t have got a much tougher draw in the Carabao Cup, with John Eustace taking the Rams to eighth last season, a position that would see them enter the play-offs this time out.
Having never won a game in Derby, the Imps have their work cut out. They’ve knocked us out of the League Cup twice, the FA Cup twice and the EFL Trophy once, with our 2004 League Cup win one of just five victories against the Rams in 35 outings.
While history is no solid indicator of tomorrow’s outcome, Chris Cohen told Imps+ that City will have their work cut out.
“They finished eighth in the league, just missing out on the play-offs, but were in contention for the play-offs for pretty much the whole season.
“We’re coming up against one of the best teams in the Championship from last year. We’re going to stress the game model and see what it looks like against a really good team with really good players.
“Like every game we went into last year and every game we’ve gone into during pre-season, we’re going to try to win the football match. The way we do that will look different from week to week, but we’re super excited to stress what we know we can do really well against a team that finished eighth in the division last year.”
We do have an inside man, so to speak. While Sonny Bradley and James Collins have both appeared for Derby in the last two seasons, neither will play a part tomorrow. However, new signing Callum Elder is expected to make his competitive debut against his old club.
Just like last season, when Paudie O’Connor left Lincoln only for Reading to be our opening fixture (plot twist, he was injured), the first game throws up an intriguing afternoon for the Australian international.
“It’s funny how football works and throws you things like that,” said Callum.
“I’ve got nothing but respect for the football club. It has a fantastic fan base, facilities, group of players and group of staff.
“It will be good to be back, but I’m excited to go there as a Lincoln player. I’m certainly looking to win on Saturday.”
City will likely be without Dom Jefferies and Sonny Bradley for tomorrow’s game, while Tom Bayliss has also had limited pre-season minutes. Elder, Andrei Coubis and Mason Melia are likely to make their full debuts, in a cup game that feels oddly like a final pre-season fixture, given that we haven’t played a league game yet.
Whatever happens, the Imps have remained in the competition longer than previous boss, Michael Skubala. His long unbeaten run as a head coach came to an end last night as Bristol City were knocked out of the cup by League Two side Walsall.
Comments Welcome!