Spurs under 23’s versus Derby County: (match preview)

It’s almost a month since our under 23’s last played a competitive game of football, with Wayne Burnett’s sides glorious 3-1 win over Arsenal being their last game. Starting with tomorrow lunchtime encounter with Derby, Spurs face the first of three hugely important remaining league fixtures. It took a long time to find but Burnett’s side have finally found their form in the league and they’ll need to maintain that if they are to ensure their division one status for another season. Seated one point above Sunderland in the relegation zone, the game against Derby presents Spurs with a big opportunity to bolster their survival chances ahead of tough fixtures against Chelsea and Man City. In many ways it’s a six pointer, as a Spurs win would see them go above the rams who are situated just one point above us. I’m anticipating a close game with so much at stake for both sides. under the tutelage of Darren Wassall Derby have enjoyed a mixed campaign, picking up some impressive results along the way but still finding themselves in a precarious situation. I wasn’t at all impressed with Wassall’s side when they beat us 1-0 in the reverse fixture at Pride park back in October. They looked flat and offered little in the way of creativity, despite this they still managed to beat us. Unbeaten in our last six games in all competitions, if Burnett’s side can demonstrate the same energy levels that thrashed Arsenal 3-1 in our last fixture then I’ve no doubt that we could out do the rams at Hotspur Way on Saturday. I will be reporting on tomorrows game from the training centre and will have my match report published later that evening. COYS

My predicted lineup: (4-2-3-1) Austin, Eyoma, C.Maghoma (c), Tanganga, Georgiou, Marsh, Skipp, S.Shashoua, Pritchard, Bennetts, Griffiths.

Subs from: Whiteman, Brown, Duncan, Roles, Tracey.

Injured/unavailable: Brooklyn Lyons-Foster (ligaments) and Nick Tsaroulla.

Doubtful: Kazaiah Sterling and Shilow Tracey.

My score prediction: Spurs 4-1.

One to watch: The rams top scorer with six league goals and the scorer in the reverse fixture at pride park, Luke Thomas.

In other news: Spurs u23’s assistant manager Justin Cochrane has left his role at the club to take up the job of managing England under 15’s. A highly respected figure at the club, Cochrane had a big impact at Spurs on a wide range of age groups.