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

Our under 23’s will play their final PL2 game of the 2018/19 on Monday evening when they welcome Derby County to the Lamex Stadium, for what is a massive game for Wayne Burnett’s side. Still not safe from the threat of relegation to the second division, Burnett’s side need to win their final game of the season to rubber stamp their division one status for the 2019/20 season. Spurs are two points above 11th place West Ham, the ‘ Hammers ‘ host league champions Everton in their final game on Monday night and if our London rivals fail to beat the ‘ Toffees ‘ then we will avoid the drop regardless of how we do against Derby. Last time out Spurs recorded an impressive 2-1 victory over Swansea City in South Wales to bolster their chances of survival. It was a very refreshing performance which saw us overcome the ‘ Swans ‘ and the energy with which we played, and the zip of our passing and movement was great to see. A delightful brace from 17 year old striker Troy Parrott secured the victory for Burnett’s side, and I am sure that the Tottenham head coach will be looking to start Parrott once again for the visit of Derby County. The ‘ Rams ‘ have enjoyed a successful season under their head coach Darren Wassall and they sit comfortably in fifth place in the league table, after picking up 30 points from their 21 matches. Derby are a technical and well organised side who are always very difficult to break down as we found out when we played them in the reverse fixture at Pride Park last October when we lost 1-0. Burnett’s side barely managed to produce a shot on target that day. Spurs will be looking to go for the win on Monday night but they will have to be wary of the threat which the Derby attack pose. Centre forward and Derby’s top scorer in the PL2 this season with six goals Cameron Cresswell is the ‘ Rams ‘ main danger man. However, the Tottenham defence will also have to monitor the likes of winger Josh Shonibare, midfielder Jacob Butterfield and overage players such as internationals Efe Ambrose and Ikechi Anya who could well feature for Wassall’s side. There were so many positives to take away from our win against Swansea City the other week and it was really great to see a number of our under 18’s make the step up for that game. Players such as Dilan Markanday, Brooklyn Lyons-Foster, Harvey White and Troy Parrott will all be hoping to start Monday’s game.

This is a must win game for Wayne Burnett’s and it will be a good test for the young ‘ Lilywhites ‘ to experience such pressure. I would like to wish the lads all the very best of luck for the game. My in-depth match report will be published late on Wednesday night, once I get back home from the Spurs and AJAX game!

My predicted lineup: (4-2-3-1) Austin, Hinds, Lyons-Foster, Tanganga (c), White, Marsh, Bowden, Markanday, Roles, Tracey, Parrott.

Subs from: De Bie, Dinzeyi, Duncan, Maghoma, Patterson. 

Injured/unavailable: Luke Amos, Luis Binks, Jeremie Mukendi, Maximus Tainio, Enock Asante.

Doubtful: TJ Eyoma, Jamie Reynolds, Rodel Richards, J’Neil Bennett.

Previous meeting: Spurs 0-1.

My score prediction: Spurs 3-1.

My one to watch: The ‘ Rams ‘ main goal threat is centre forward Cameron Cresswell (19). The Derby striker has scored six goals for Darren Wassall’s side in the PL2 so far this campaign.