George Thorne

4 key absentees in the Championship tonight

There is a full list of Championship matches on tonight, with every team involved. Some teams need a win to halt a bad run of form, or they’ll be looking to continue climbing the table. It won’t be easy for certain club’s however, especially those with key injuries or suspensions. We focus on four players who will be missing from team selections this evening.

Matt Derbyshire (Rotherham United)

The main reason that Neil Redfearn will miss his striker for tonight’s trip to Middlesbrough is purely because they have very few other alternatives. He also sat out the weekend defeat to Derby County. Whilst nobody expected The Millers to win at Derby on Saturday or to defeat Boro tonight, they need all of their key players available if they are to achieve the unlikely. He may have only scored two Championship goals so far this season, but the reliance on Jonson Clarke-Harris has increased even more. It was always going to be a tough ask this evening, but they are now going to play one up front again. Charlton did that at the Riverside Stadium at the weekend, and only had one significant shot on goal.

Dean Whitehead (Huddersfield Town)

Chris Powell is desperately lacking options in the central midfield area especially. They are a side which doesn’t possess a great deal of experience, nor a great amount of strength in depth. Whitehead is without a doubt that player that makes them tick in midfield and his absence will be mind-blowingly obvious at Reading tonight. Jonathan Hogg could return from injury, and would be the most likely replacement, but he too is a doubt. Other than this, there doesn’t appear to be a logical replacement for Whitehead this evening. They may have to even change formation or ask someone to fill in this role just for one game. It isn’t ideal and they’ll struggle to win without him tonight.

George Thorne (Derby County)

Similar to Whitehead at Huddersfield, George Thorne has quite a unique role within this Derby County team. Whilst the likes of Chris Martin will get all of the headlines in attack, it is someone like Thorne who goes about his business quietly. He is another key player in this Derby team and again, there isn’t an obvious replacement for him. He is a holding midfielder and whilst Paul Clement has plenty of midfielders within their side, most of them like to drive forward. Thorne sits deep, collects from the defence, spreads play and breaks up plenty of opposition attacks. Youngster James Hanson may come into this role, or Bradley Johnson may drop slightly deeper. Nevertheless, he will be a miss against QPR tonight, although they’ll still fancy getting the job done without him. Derby will also be without Tom Ince, but they didn’t miss him against Rotherham over the weekend.

Kagisho Dikgacoi (Cardiff City)

Dikgacoi is another solid central midfielder who serves a real purpose in the team he plays for. He is a driving force from this position and is extremely strong in the tackle. He will again miss out tonight’s trip to Leeds United because of a hamstring problem. Steve Evans will have his Leeds side fired up to put on a performance and react positively after losing at home to Blackburn Rovers last Thursday. So Russell Slade would’ve wanted to call upon his experienced midfielder to stand up and be counted in this game. Cardiff are generally quite solid defensively, but Dikgacoi has played a big part in that. Aaron Gunnarsson should retain his place in central midfield, just as he did away to Ipswich on Saturday. Whilst he too is a central midfielder, he is more of an energetic presser, rather than a calming influence that Dikgacoi can provide.

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