Burley seems set to go against the adage of never changing a winning team by
making several unforced changes to his starting line-up against Lincoln for the
cup-tie at Sincil Bank.
With a heavy schedule of 3 games in the next 8 days the Rams boss has strongly
hinted that he will rest skipper Ian Taylor, and there is a distinct possibility
of doing the same for Michael Johnson.
Definitely out of contention is Tommy Smith who picked up a deadleg at QPR on
Saturday, while a late decision will be made about Morten Bisgaard who is
carrying a slight strain.
Jamie Vincent has been in full training for the last few days since coming
successfully through a midweek reserve fixture and is guaranteed a place in the
starting eleven.
Even with a small squad there are a number of permutations available to the
manager with the most likely being a strike force of Junior and Paul
Peschisolido which would push Marcus Tudgay into the wide right midfield role
and Adam Bolder is expected to replace Taylor in the centre of midfield although
Huddlestone could move back into his preferred central midfield role with Pablo
Mills or the out of favour Jeff Kenna added to central defence.
Derby's record in both domestic cup competitions has been woeful for the last
few years and with Burley talking in optimistic terms of a good cup run it would
be a surprise if he juggled his team more than necessary for a fixture where the
home side can only be considered marginal underdogs.