Derby v Watford – All about the performance
With Burnley securing 2nd Derby’s focus turns to getting back to their best going into the play-offs, although they face a tough test in Watford who with a game in hand going into the final 8 days of the season will think 9 points from their final 3 could push for a top 6 finish.
Derby will go into the game at the iPro with two objective. The first to secure 3rd place and a game against 6th in the play-off semi-finals. The second will be to send out a message to their play-off rivals with a strong performance against a solid Watford side. 4 wins on the bounce made Burnley really work for their 2nd place and if the Rams had avoided a faltering start to March they could well still be chasing automatic promotion. However over two legs they will fancy themselves against an of the sides chasing the play-offs. Scotsman Johnny Russell has started the last 7 games, scoring 3 goals in that period including the crucial second goal agaisnt Barnsley on Monday. He is this game’s key man.
Watford have as much of a chance as Bournemouth of making the play-offs. Their charge may have come to late, but all the Hornets can do is win their games and pile the pressure onto the other sides and pressure is a funny thing. Defeat to QPR after leading 1-0 ended the men from Vicarage Road’s hopes of making the top six realistically, however like Blackburn the good end to the season can be used to build confidence going into the 2014/15 campaign. Under Giuseppe Sannino Watford have become a very difficult side to break down and with Troy Deeney firing in the goals they can match any side in the division including the expansive Derby County side.
Score prediction: 2-2 draw
