Brighton v Derby County - Match Thread.....

Afternoon lads and ladies - I hope you're all enjoying this fine summery/wintery/autumnly/springly day (I don't know what it's been like for our exiles, but up here all four seasons have somehow managed to squeeze into one day: we've had blazing sunshine, hail, snow, rain, wind... damn this "global warming" nonsense )

Can't really say I have a good idea of how this match may pan out to be honest - we technically have no strikers at the moment, but this is where Derby's ability to score from all over the pitch will come in handy (come on Buxton!)

A win tonight is pretty vital if we want to maintain the gap between us and second place and not bottle it again - the key tonight is to keep our cool, just go out and get the result. After all, it's only Brighton innit?

Lastly, and most importantly, I would like to offer my sincere condolences to the family and friends of Dave Mackay - a true legend of football, an incredible player who was "tough as teak". Although I myself never saw him play, I have been reading the stories of older Derby fans, many of which describe his "fierce" look as he led the lads onto the pitch, and the inherent feeling that when he was playing, it was impossible for Derby to lose. Roy McFarland stated that "in the majority of pictures, Dave has his chest stuck out - that's the way he played and lived his life." He achieved many things, such as helping the Rams to gain promotion to League One as a player, leading Derby to the league title as a manager, gaining 22 caps for his country and being made an inaugural inductee of the English Football Hall of Fame. (I could only pick a few as there were just so many achievements.) So here's to Dave Mackay, a fantastic player and gentleman - you will be sorely missed.



Teams to follow - Moj if you will?

Now come on lads, let's win this for Dave, yes?

COYR!!