Burton Albion 1-0 Derby County XI1-0 - Shaun Harrad penalty - conceded by Jermaine Johnson (14 mins)
Derby County XI (4-4-2)
Saul Deeney [7] - GK - Deeney put in a good display against his former club. Twice in the first half he had to sweep up behind his defence and made a brilliant save to deny Harrad when the Brewers striker was clean through. Showed good positional sense to make it seem like several Burton shots were hit straight at him. Looked composed and distributed well. Got lucky once when the Brewers failed to cash in on his poor clearance and hit a shot straight at him.
Jason Beardsley (captain) [6] - RB - a reasonably solid game for Beardsley, although Jimmy Phillips made him work very hard and Beardsley was completely beaten all ends up by the winger on one occasion that nearly produced a goal for the Brewers. Never really looked to get forward in support of Scott Nielson. Switched to left-back when Alex Forde came on.Jermaine Johnson [5] - CB(R) - conceded the penalty and generally struggled against Harrad and Richard Walker, losing more headers than he won. On the ground, showed composure and distributed the ball tidily.
Mitch Hanson [7] - CB(L) - this was the first time I'd seen Hanson and he impressed me. Strong in the air, tackled well, and looked very composed on the ball. Generally read the game well and covered very effectively behind Johnson.
Jordan Stewart [6] - LB - a hot and cold performance by Stewart. Sometimes caught out of position, other times he tackled well and was in the right place at the right time twice to make goal saving challenges. Came forward a few times in support of Kris Commons and Gary Mills but without too much impact.
Scott Neilson [5] - RM - on this performance I wouldn't offer the Cambridge City trialist a contract. No doubting his work rate, particularly when tracking back, but Paul Boertien had Neilson in his pocket all game.
Arnaud Mendy [5] - CM(R) - not one of Mendy's better games. At times he passed well, and had two shots at goal, but the game passed him by for long periods and he was unable to impose himself against Burton's combatative central midfield.
Giles Barnes [6] - CM(L) - showed some glimpses of real quality and only a brilliant save by Ross Atkins denied Barnes an equaliser within a minute of the restart. Like Mendy, was generally second best to a hard working, well organised Brewers central midfield, but Barnes did step it up in the last 20 minutes, getting more involved, spraying passes, and showed signs that he was capable of bossing the midfield. If only he could've done that more consistently from the kick-off.Kris Commons [5] - LM - looked well short of match fitness and struggled to impose himself against Marc Edworthy. Showed good control, but looked for the pass rather than taking Edworthy on. Did produce a few good crosses. Unlucky that the post denied his strike from a direct free-kick on 22 minutes. Faded as the game wore on.
Fraser McLaren [5] - SC - McLaren worked hard and showed commitment but with no end product. Never looked like scoring, but I felt sorry for the trialist from Berwick Rangers because it's hard to impress as a striker when there's limited service and creativity.
Mark Grocutt [6] - SC - Like McLaren, Grocutt worked hard and showed lots of commitment, and impressed the most out of the three trialists. The former Stoke City player had to work with scraps but he did go looking for the ball, was more involved than McLaren, showed a neat touch and did link up play quite well. Unlucky not to get on the end of a low, hard cross from Commons in the first half. Switched to central midfield as Derby chased the game late on but was ineffective there.
Substitutes:
Greg Mills [6] (for Commons, 52 minutes) - LM - another right-footer on the left-wing (are they trying to turn young Mills into Gary Teale?), Mills showed good pace, and a neat touch and close control with his right foot. Caused Edworthy more problems than Commons but didn't really see enough of the ball. Showed a high work-rate and was prepared to track back and tackle for the cause.
Aleksandar Prijovic [6] (for McLaren, 63 minutes) - SC - hustled and harried and generally made a nuisance of himself. High work rate and looked to run onto the through ball that was overhit on a couple of occasions. Looked like he would've been a threat if the final ball had been better.
Alex Forde [6] (for Stewart, 72 minutes) - RB - a solid enough game defensively given that Burton were happy to protect their slender lead in the last 15 minutes. Did show urgency, and did try to get forward, but generally lacked composure when trying to attack.
Henrik Ojamaa [5] (for Hanson, 75 minutes) - SC - didn't have long to get into the game and struggled to make an impact as Derby chased the game in a rushed fashion.
Roy Carroll [4] (for Barnes, 82 minutes) - SC - thrown on up front late on for his height. Only touched the ball a handful of times, enough to prove that he's definitely a goalkeeper, not an outfield player...