Derby's schedule in January, including two FA Cup matches, has a total of six games, which may not sound like much, including the FA Cup is equivalent to a five-day match, but in reality, four league games and the second FA Cup are squeezed behind the number 10.

Between the number 10 and the number 31, Derby County have a total of five games to play, with West Bromwich Albion being the first in the league.

The first half of the game was at Pride Stadium, so this time Derby County need to travel to Hawthorn Stadium to challenge their opponents away.

Soon the match between the two teams approached.

Originally, this was a match between the first and third in the league, and there will definitely be a lot of media coverage in the past, after all, it is related to the points change of the top three in the league, and it is also the top meeting in League One.

But in the first two days of the two teams, there wasn't much media coverage of the game. Most of the media that report on League One, or the supporters of both teams, only mention the game briefly, talk about some recent news about Derby County, talk about some West Bromwich Albion news, who wins and who loses, or what grievances and conflicts, etc., no one mentions it.

For the media who support Derby, they feel that this game is a bit of a 'small fight' for Derby, who have just won away to Tottenham Hotspur, and what is West Bromwich Albion compared to the latter?

They felt that the game didn't matter at all, not to mention that the last time the two teams met Derby County, they were the winners, and they didn't want to hype up the game.

The hostile media of Derby County would love to see Derby lose and face West Bromwich Albion away, and Derby still have a good chance of losing, but they have just suffered a loss to Tottenham Hotspur, and even if they don't have a long memory, they can't forget it so quickly, so they have become a lot more cautious and resolutely don't say anything like 'Derby will lose' before the game. They are going to wait and see, and when Derby County lose, they will have a chance to point fingers.

The West Bromwich Albion media did cover the game a bit, but they were similar to the media that supported Derby County – Derby are top of the league and have won West Bromwich Albion in the first half of the fixture and have just beaten Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane, so they will have to be a little more cautious anyway.

As a result, this league first and league third game was very flat before the game, as if the two teams were not the top three in the league, but just a clash of ordinary mid-table teams in League One.

The media's 'preview' of the game has been bland and bland. There was little connection between the two teams, and the two teams were preparing for the game in a low-key manner, with no players or anyone else talking about the opponent before the game.

This flatness remained until the hour before the game.

The FA has unveiled the 18-man squad handed in by both teams, with West Bromwich Albion having little to say about it, but Derby's squad is eye-catching because four names are missing from the list – Lee Morris, Franck Ribery, Tim Cahill and captain Marcus.

Anyone who follows Derby will be well aware of what these four men mean to Derby.

Lee Morris is the heart of Derby County's midfield, he is the most important player in attack and transition, as well as a playmaker in attack. It can be said that as long as Morris plays, he is the most important and indispensable player in the Derby County Eleven.

Frank Ribery, after arriving in Derbyshire, was outstanding. In particular, after the last game against Tottenham Hotspur, his reputation in English football has increased significantly, and the most famous game was Wan Sheng, and he led the team to complete the comeback at White Hart Lane. Frank Ribery was also furiously reported by the media because he was the best player of the game.

In other words, Frank Ribery is Derby's best yet. The most famous player.

Tim Cahill is Derby's top scorer and League One's top scorer, and he has scored a whopping 0.96 goals in the league this season, which means that Cahill has scored 0.96 goals in every game, which is almost equivalent to one goal per game, and with such a good scoring efficiency, Cahill is also the second most famous player in Derby.

Marcus is the captain of Derby County, the captain, the spiritual leader, and the pillar of the team's back, so it's hard to imagine what such a player could mean to a team that often uses attacking tactics.

All in all, each of these four players is very important to Derby.

If one or two are not in the squad, the media can guess whether they are injured, or they are physically exhausted due to consecutive games and need to take a break, but all four are not on the list, and this is definitely not the case.

The media were quite surprised.

If it is against a weak team, it is understandable that Derby County will send a semi-substitute lineup to play, after all, Derby County is indeed very strong, and it is nothing to rotate a round against a weak team with a substitute lineup.

The opponent of the key Derby County is West Bromwich Albion!

Many media outlets immediately thought of the reason - Derby County had to prepare for the second round of the FA Cup against Birmingham, and in order to ensure that the main players were fit enough to cope with the game, they had to use rotational rest.

This is understandable.

But in the mouths of many media outlets, it is completely different, they will not think about Derby, but will make a one-sided analysis of Derby's approach, so the normal rotation becomes 'Derby County despises West Bromwich Albion'.

"That Chinese did this deliberately, he was humiliating West Bromwich Albion, he was retaliating!"

"The last time the two teams met, West Bromwich Albion coach McGhson talked about the game and said they would beat Derby County, and now the Chinese are hitting back with 'we can beat you away with a set of substitutes' I have to say that this response is very powerful, but McGson will be very unhappy"

"Of course, the premise of all is that Derby County can really win at Hawthorn Stadium, but from a normal point of view, Derby County probably gave up the game."

"They are against West Bromwich Albion, third in the league, last season's Premier League team, and they are playing away!"

“”

In response to Derby's semi-substitute lineup, the media began to report vigorously again, and they seemed to want to vent all their previous frustration and comment on Derby County and the game before the game.

But Wan Sheng didn't care, in fact, he didn't even read the report.

There was nothing to see in the pre-match report, and after submitting the team squad, he knew what the media would say, but he deliberately let the four rest for a round.

It's not just about preparing for the FA Cup game against Birmingham, it's about the number of appearances a few people is really too much.

They had to rotate them for one round.

The task of the football trainer can only ensure their physical condition, but the constant competition will also make the players mentally tired, which is what the football trainer system and Wansheng cannot do, so rest is a must, after all, not every player is a game maniac, and it is okay to always participate in the game.

Another reason is that the team loses the game!

At present, the team is ahead of Norwich City by 6 league points, and the match with West Bromwich Albion is also the last meeting between Derby County and the two teams, and the game between Norwich and West Bromwich Albion has not yet started, so Derby County has a fairly obvious advantage in terms of fixtures and league points, even if it loses this game only a little less points advantage, it does not affect the team's league ranking, and Wansheng is confident that it will be back in the league in the future.

But the media wouldn't think so much about Derbyshire.

In the pre-match interview, some media mentioned Derby County's eighteen-man squad to McGson, and obviously fanned the flames and said that 'Derby County may feel that a semi-main squad is enough to beat West Bromwich Albion at Hawthorn Stadium', such a provocative meaning is too obvious, and the reporter who proposed it did not expect McGson to be provoked, but just wanted to see McGson's attitude.

But what the reporters didn't expect was that McGson seemed to be 'provoked'!

McGson's face flashed with shame, as if he really felt insulted, "They thought a bench team could beat us?" Even if they are the first in the league, they should not be so dismissive of their opponents! This is the Hawthorn Stadium, we are West Bromwich Albion, I want to see how they beat us! ”

"But I think in the end, our players will sue them that there is a price to pay for despising us!"

McGson roared and left the press conference at random, it felt like he was really angry, and the reporters present were a little confused, McGson's reaction was indeed what they wanted to see, but it was a bit too much.

They had a feeling -- they seemed to be being used again

In fact, this is also true.

McGson was thinking about how to boost the morale of the players, and the reporters sent such a gift, which did not arouse the morale of the players more than the contempt of the opponents, and he only needed to tell the players what happened at the press conference, which was more useful than shouting slogans.

On the other hand, in the away team's locker room at the Hawthorn Stadium, Wansheng is also giving everyone a final advice.

"I don't stress much about anything"

Wan Sheng stopped pacing and looked up at everyone, "I've already said what I need to say, I don't ask you to be able to beat your opponents, but what I want to see is that each of you can do your best on the court!" ”

Wan Sheng said so much, he didn't put any pressure on everyone.

In fact, just like the media said, it is not easy for Derby County to beat West Bromwich Albion with a semi-substitute lineup, and Wan Sheng is also very aware of this, so he did not give the players any 'must win', go to the pitch and work hard, try to play as much as possible, and it doesn't matter what the result is.

Derby County lost the game, and Wan Sheng would rather see how far the team's semi-substitute squad can go than the result. (To be continued......)