Rams continue purple patch vs. MK Dons

This was the first competitive meeting between the two sides since the MK Dons replaced Wimbledon FC in 2004; however they had faced each other in the last team to face the latter club at the former National Hockey Stadium before the foundation of the present.

Article by Fred Gough

Milton Keynes Dons [1] Derby County [3] - Attendance: 13,544

For Rams fans it was a first time to Stadium:mk and despite being a lunchtime kick off on the Sky Sports cameras were keen to take a large raft of support down to Buckinghamshire.

Karl Robinson’s men had been promoted to the SkyBet Championship for the first time since their foundation in the mid 2000s and had started the season brightly by thrashing Rotherham United 4-1 on the opening day but since then found the Championship difficult going on a winless streak of five matches.

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Derby on the other hand were now starting to find their feet, after wins at both Preston and Reading and a draw at home to Burnley had seen the points tally increase after August saw four league draws.

Paul Clement made three changes to his starting eleven from that which had done everything but score against the Clarets on Monday evening, captain Chris Baird returned in place of a rested George Thorne, Tom Ince came straight back in after his injury had meant other summer signing Andreas Weimann had participated against Burnley and Stephen Warnock was preferred once more in the left back role.

It was the home side who largely looked the most threatening and dictated the tempo in large proportions of this fixture, experienced defender Anthony Kay having their first clear chance before the Rams tallysman Chris Martin failed to get a tidy shot away.

IMAGE DCFC MEDIA

Welsh international Simon Church thought he had broken the deadlock after 17 minutes but was flagged offside before he tested Carson with a volley.

Derby’s counter attacking play did find themselves behind the MK Dons defence, Chris Martin drove a shot straight at his namesake and former Derby loanee David Martin before Tom Ince failed to fire past the goalkeeper after a cutting pass by Bradley Johnson either side of Dean Lewington’s chance hit the side netting leaving the 3,844 Derby supporters frustrated and disgruntled with what their team had produced in the first half.

Half Time: Milton Keynes Dons 0 Derby County 0

The second half started with the home side still looking the more likely to score, so it was a surprise when the Rams opened their account for the afternoon. Tidy footwork along the left wing saw full back Stephen Warnock square it back to the edge of the box to £6 million signing, Bradley Johnson who finished it with a low drive with his stronger left foot.

Derby still found it hard to capitalise on adding to their lead as the home side continued to press and they got their deserved equaliser after neat work from MK Dons found, on loan Norwich City winger Josh Murphy squeeze his shot under Scott Carson to send the home faithful into raptures.

A sloppy defensive mistake almost gifted Murphy with a second, only minutes later when Church had the freedom to tee up the spritely winger but thankfully for the Rams the pass was too hard and eluded everyone.

IMAGE DCFC MEDIA

Another opportunity spurned by the Dons’ captain Dean Lewington, son of England coach Ray, as Carson heroically tipped the left back’s header against the post. With Derby throwing on Jeff Hendrick and later Darren Bent, the home side began to tire, Ince couldn’t find the target after a neat lay off by Chris Martin before the Scottish international striker was replaced by Bent.

Winger Johnny Russell had a fierce strike smash against the crossbar before Hendrick’s defence splitting pass found Ince at the byline before cutting it back for the former Ipswich Town trainee Bent tapped home his first league goal since joining Derby permanently on a Bosman transfer in the summer from Aston Villa, a minute before the 90 minute mark.

The Dons threw everything at trying to get a second equaliser and nearly profited from an erroneous punch by Carson had to be firmly cleared away by a defender on the line however it was going to be the plucky away side who would seal the three points deep into the added stoppage time, intercepting a laid back throw in routine, Tom Ince composed himself to inflict another defeat on his dad’s former side, Paul managing MK Dons between 2007 and 2008 and led the club to the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy and League Two title before having an unsuccessful spell at Blackburn Rovers and returning for a less enjoyable time in 2009 for another solitary season.

Full Time: Milton Keynes Dons 1 Derby County 3

The scoreline flattered Derby in this match, for the large sections of the match, it looked like Karl Robinson would be the more victorious manager in this fixture, however fair credit to Paul Clement in introducing Jeff Hendrick and Darren Bent for weak performers on the day Chris Baird and Chris Martin.

IMAGE FRED GOUGH

We have now seen ten games under the spell of Paul Clement and in that spell; only two games have seen defeats and half of his games have ended a draw. With the Rams sitting in just outside the top six but gaining good home draws against Middlesbrough and Burnley and a solid win at Reading, then it feels that Derby are steadily finding their momentum. Results need to come at the iPro Stadium as well though, as it has been a long time in the wait for the majority to see and taste victory.

Clement brings a more honest reflection to the Head Coach’s role than his predecessor, 

Steve McClaren and certainly has made Derby harder to beat and admitted that his side hadn’t played well in this fixture but had the clinical touch for scoring and the three points was very valuable to his side and will go into next week’s home match against Brentford as a way of ending the block of fixtures before the international break with an unbeaten run and hopefully a first home win.

Teams:

MK Dons [4-2-3-1] –Martin, Spence, McFadzean, Kay, Lewington (capt), Poyet, Forster-Caskey, Baker (Bowditch – 85), Reeves (Hall – 79), Murphy (y/c - 69) & Church (Maynard – 67); Substitutes – Hodson, Bowditch, Gallagher, Powell, Maynard, Burns & Hall.

DCFC [4-3-3] – Carson, Christie (y/c – 58), Keogh, Shackell, Warnock, Baird (capt) (Hendrick – 67), Butterfield (y/c – 24 (Weimann - 62)), Johnson, Ince (y/c – 76), Martin (Bent – 79) & Russell; Substitutes – Grant, Forsyth, Hendrick, Bent, Weimann, Hanson & Shotton.

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