Derby County v Palace

Pride Park, Saturday 3.00pm

Tony Popovic

Team news

Popovic was on international duty with Australia in their midweek 1-1 draw against Venezuela in Caracas. He is likely to be rested by boss Iain Dowie after the long journey home.

This means recent signing from MK Wimbledon Mikele Leigertwood is set to make his Palace debut in defence.

Dowie hopes his other internationals Kit Symons, Michael Hughes, Gary Borrowdale and Wayne Routledge will all be fit.

Derby welcome back midfielder Candido Costa after he recovered from a throat infection. Richard Jackson will replace former Palace defender Jamie Vincent, who has pulled his hamsting, at left-back.

Derby County - league stats

Full league table

Derby County - current form

Full form table

Our away record v Derby County

Last five results

Date	Type	Home Team	Score	Away Team
14/10/2003	League	Crystal Palace	1 - 1	Derby County
05/03/2003	League	Derby County	0 - 1	Crystal Palace
17/09/2002	League	Crystal Palace	0 - 1	Derby County
18/04/1998	League	Crystal Palace	3 - 1	Derby County
20/12/1997	League	Derby County	0 - 0	Crystal Palace

All time results

One to watch

Marco Reich

I was originally going to go for Ian Taylor who ill mention later but ive been told by my Derby supporting friend that this is the man that is currently making Derby fans feel slightly less worried about their current proximity to the relegation zone and this is the reason why. Derby signed him for free from current Bundesliga run away leaders Werder Bremen on 16th January. Before arriving in Derby Reich had just made himself a first team regular in germany but Bremen felt the need to offload him because of his disciplinary record. Now, he has made an immediate impact in the Derby County first team and with the fans who love him. Having heard of Wayne Routledge from myself, my friend said he was the german version of Wayne. He is quick, versatile, has a number of tricks up his arm and has a wonderful cross. Wayne may have to work extremely hard indeed to outshine this young talent as will the defenders to stop him carving us up. However, this said, i believe that there is only one other person the defence need really be afraid of, Ian Taylor. Derby County's captain and top scorer he has been vital for Derby this season and will continue to play a vital role for Derby as they continue their struggle against relegation to Division 2. He is a big, strong, quick player who, when given the chance has a sharp, accurate shot, hence his 8 goals this term. We all know about Rob Edwards who is a quality defender on loan from Villa but former Palace player Noel Whelan has also stated that he is looking to score on saturday in the last game of his trial with the Rams. The palace defence will need to be on their toes for this one.

Last meeting

Derby County 0-1 Crystal Palace - 05/03/2003

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