Fleetwood Town travel to Derbyshire to face Derby County in their latest Sky Bet League One fixture, and we have all the information you need ahead of the game.
Fixture: Derby County vs Fleetwood Town
Competition: Sky Bet League One
Date: Saturday 18 March 2023
Kick-off: 3pm
Venue: Pride Park
DERBY COUNTY
The Rams come into this fixture on the back of a 3-2 win away at Oxford United at the Kassam Stadium. Even though they found themselves behind after 14 minutes, Louie Sibley was on hand to level up the scoring in Oxfordshire.
Sibley made it a brace for him just before the half-time whistle, with an own goal from Sam Long making it 3-1 at the hour mark. They managed to hold on, but with the hosts scoring in the 90th minute, it was a nervy end to the match.
Derby currently sits 5th in Sky Bet League One with 64 points, with their home form being a key point for their success as they've picked up 12 wins thus far. Their last home win was a 2-0 victory over Cheltenham Town, with David McGoldrick and Lewis Dobbin both getting themselves on the scoresheet.
McGoldrick, who is the man to watch this weekend, missed the last outing due to a hip injury, but is thought to be back in contention for Saturday. With spells at Nottingham Forest, Sheffield United and Ipswich Town, he has scored more than 130 career goals, with 19 coming this season.
FLEETWOOD TOWN
Town came from behind in the last match to salvage a point against Port Vale at the weekend. After Matty Taylor opened the scoring for the Vale in the 57th minute at Highbury, January signing Jack Marriott scored seven minutes from time meaning the points would be shared, and also open his account at Fleetwood.
Scott Brown's side will make the trip to Derbyshire on Saturday, but go into the clash at Pride Park on the back of two straight losses away from home. Town lost 2-0 away at Wycombe Wanderers last Tuesday and narrowly lost out to Cheltenham Town four days earlier.
Following five weeks of Saturday and Tuesday matches, this was the first week that the players had a full week's worth of training down at Poolfoot Farm. It has been good to see the lads at the races on the field this week with only ten games left of the Sky Bet League One season.
WHAT STEVEN WHITTAKER HAD TO SAY BEFORE THE GAME
Assistant head coach Steven Whittaker spoke to the press on Thursday afternoon ahead of Fleetwood Town’s initial trip to Pride Park to take on Derby County at the weekend - he had this to say in his pre-match press conference.
“If you look at the top end of the league, there are some big clubs in here and to be fair to the boys, when we’ve gone to these stadiums, we’ve performed well and picked up some valuable points along the way. We shouldn’t have any fears as we know we can put on a performance that can, hopefully, bring us the points back home.
“I think, maybe, the lads get a lift from the challenge as we all know that motivation is massive in this sport. If they are motivated by perhaps playing against a better calibre of player, bigger stadiums, or bigger crowds, we know that it’s great for us as we know that they can stand up in those situations and they have done so multiple times already.
“The aim is to be consistent across the season and that will push you up the league. We know we’ve been sloppy here and there, but the lads have gone to places like Plymouth and Ipswich away and picked up points as well as taking home all three against Peterborough so we have done well away from home, so let’s hope that can continue Saturday.”
CLICK THIS LINK TO WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW ON IFOLLOW
DERBY COUNTY'S AWAY SUPPORTERS GUIDE
If you are making your way down to Pride Park, their Supporters Liaison Officer has provided the Cod Army with a full supporters guide. Click HERE to read!
iFOLLOW DETAILS
On the day of the game, there will be two matchday packages available for both our UK-based and overseas supporters.
Video Match-Pass - £10 (Overseas Supporters only)
Audio Match-pass - £2.50 (Overseas & U.K based Supporters)
Those who choose the Audio Match-Pass option will get access to just the commentary, which will be provided by our partners, BBC Radio Lancashire.
Season passes are available with audio passes for only £45 for the season, for all UK-based members of the Cod Army.
