U's 0-1 Derby: Wooly Bullies

The quest for safety goes on as Derby emerged with all three points on Saturday.

That wasn’t entirely unexpected was it? Derby are one of the best teams in the division, and will likely finish the season in 2nd earning themselves promotion back to the Championship.

Despite a gutsy performance from the U’s, this game showed the gulf in class between a very good League One team, and a fairly poor one. Ultimately though, the game was decided by one lapse in concentration from three players, an Ibsen Rossi header from a U’s corner went to the only unmarked Derby player, he easily outpaced Liam Bennett, and Will Mannion was in no-mans land which made the finish easy. You can’t do that stuff against average League 1 teams and get away with it, you definitely can’t do it against Nathaniel Mendez-Laing with his bags of Premier League and Championship experience.

Ibsen Rossi actually had a great game to be fair, and deserved the Man of the Match gong. Jordan Cousins too, another one who’s struggled this season put in the performance we’ve been expecting from him. No-one really had a bad game, it’s just that Derby were too good.

Burton won, which means Cheltenham need to win both their games now regardless of what we do. We could be safe tomorrow night, even if we end up losing. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous, but we’re in a much better position than we were this time last season. I’m not going to take anything for granted until I know we’re mathematically safe though. For me, that was my last trip to the Abbey this season as I’m away for the last game. I won’t see some of these players again, but many won’t be missed. This season can’t end soon enough.

We go again.

Soundtrack of the Match: Klaxons - It’s Not Over Yet