City will be looking for their first Pride Park win in almost a decade
Hull City will be under no illusions about the threats posed by Derby County when the Tigers visit Pride Park on Tuesday night, looking to make it seven games unbeaten and claim a fifth win in seven.
That’s according to City‘s assistant boss Dean Holden, who says the players are fully aware of the Rams’ approach, especially at home, but will arrive in the East Midlands buoyant after successive road trip wins at Birmingham City and on Saturday at Norwich City.
Derby have won their last two at Pride Park and were 3-1 winners at Sheffield United on Saturday, with the Blades forgetting the basic principles of defending, and Carlton Morris’ ability to net a first career hat-trick, something Holden hopes won’t be the same for the Tigers.
WATCH: DEAN HOLDEN LOOKS AHEAD TO CITY’S DERBY COUNTY TRIP
“We will for sure (go there full of confidence). I can’t wait for it, to be honest,” he told Hull Live. “We started the prep before the Norwich game. We spent the journey having a look at Derby, and again, a team that is in good form. Three wins on the spin, they changed the system, as well as a couple of games ago and seem to have found a way of winning.
“They’ve got some key strengths in the team. You look at the strikers, they’ve got available to them. A bit of everything, they’ve got some power, some speed, they’ve got a bit of aggression up there with Carlton Morris, etc, so we know we’ve got to be right on our game tomorrow to get a result, but it’s a great game for us. We have to play the game we want to play, and I mean that in terms of the two styles being slightly different.
“You’ve got to be prepared to stand up against the team, against any team. John Eustace is a great guy, I’ve got a lot of respect for him and his assistant, Keith (Downing), was my assistant at Bristol City, so I can’t wait to see them, two really top fellas, but on the pitch, they put you under a lot of pressure right from kick-off.
“They get the ball forward quickly, and they put they put the ball into areas where it’s difficult to defend at times. When we win the ball, we’ve got to make sure that we play our game.”
City were outplayed at Carrow Road in the first half, but survived and were able to stumble into half-time goalless, before unleashing a fearsome second half display to cruise to a 2-0 victory, their first in Norfolk in 15 years and just a second since 1972.
Their record at Pride Park is not too dissimilar to Carrow Road, with four defeats and a draw since their play-off semi-final win in 2016, and while Derby can be a team who are not afraid to go long, Holden says it’s important City focus on what they’re good at, and the things that have seen them take 22 points from their opening 13 games.
“Sometimes you can get lulled into playing the game the opposition wants you to play, and that’s not going to be the way for us to go to get a positive result, so it’s standing up to it and doing the defensive side of it,” he continued.
“We know where their weaknesses are. Every team’s got weaknesses, of course, and we’ve highlighted that this morning to the players, so they’re well prepared.”
Back in April, Ruben Selles preached about the need not to give the Rams cheap free-kicks around their own box, given the Rams’ threats from set-pieces, and Craig Forsyth’s winning goal five minutes from time came from one of those. Holden says Sergej Jakirovic’s squad, which will not have any players back from injury, will know what to expect and what not to do.
“We’ve highlighted that. You don’t want it to become a self-fulfilling prophecy at the same time, by constantly making it become a problem too much. We’re well aware of their threats,” he continued.
“We go over every team in detail, and we provide that to the players. The lads will be under no illusions when they leave this meeting room after the opposition meeting, they’re clear about the way we’re going to play, but there’s always a couple of key points that the players will have in the back of their mind about what type of opponent they’re going to face, and you’re right to highlight them points and we’ve just got to make sure we stand up to it.”
Holden also explained the thought process behind City’s surprise start to the game when Joe Gelhardt touched it to John Egan, who shot from the halfway line, almost catching out Canaries’ goalkeeper Kovacevic.
“It was a good technique, wasn’t it? Just not quite on target,” Holden said. “It wasn’t a plan, I’ll be honest with you. We’re not taking any credit for it.
“We did touch on it pre-game about when they’re in possession, not when we’re kicking off, but when they’re in possession, the goalkeeper plays high with that sweeper-keeper role that we see nowadays.
“We knew there might have been an opportunity on turnover and transition that we could have maybe found a way with ‘Joff’ or something. We certainly didn’t expect to see it from our centre-back from kick-off, but he saw something.
“I think it’s important to mention the gaffer gives the players a lot of, and that’s just a one-off opportunity, one-off moment, but he gives them the opportunity to see things on the pitch. It’s not as mechanical, maybe, as some teams that you watch.
“We’ve obviously got a structure and the guys know what’s expected of them, but certainly within that, there’s a lot of freedom and I think the players are enjoying it.”
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