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Follow us on Twitter @claretandview // Words by Harry Trend (@HazaTrand)
This Saturday Villa travel to Pride Park looking to get back to winning ways. To get the details on the Rams, I’ve asked student Rebecca Hawksworth (@_Beccaa97).
Rebecca is a second year University student studying Sports Journalism at UCFB. She is also an avid Derby County fan who follows the team both home and away.
What were your expectations for Derby going into the season?
Going into the season I thought we would be in and around the play-off places like we have been. Our performances have been slightly better than I expected at the start of the season as I felt that we had sold Will Hughes relatively cheaply and without bringing in a sufficient replacement. However, Matej Vydra has been unbelievably good, filling in Hughes’ boots this season, something which I don’t think many Rams fans predicted at all.
How would you rate your season so far out of 10 and why?
8 – We started off the season quite poorly but our form over the past two months has been incredible. The team are really starting to gel now. We look solid defensively and of course we offer a lot of pace going forward, especially on the wings. Hopefully we can keep this run of good form up.
Which Derby players should Villa be wary of?
It goes without saying that Vydra has been one of the best players in the Championship this season and I am sure Villa will have a plan for dealing with him. Andreas Weimann put in an excellent Man of the Match performance in our last game against Barnsley so with his pace he is also one to watch out for.
If you were Gary Rowett and had to sign one Aston Villa player for the Rams, who would it be?
I’m a big fan of Jack Grealish. He brings a lot of flare to the game and has huge potential to be a future star. He’s very different to the wingers we’ve got at Derby.
Where do you see Villa finishing this season and why?
4th. I think Villa have one of the strongest squads in the Championship and I would be very surprised if they were to not make the play-off places this season.
Score prediction for Saturday?
Derby 2 – 1 Aston Villa
