Fulham v Derby County: Championship play-off semi-final – live!

14 May 2018 17:54
Championship play-off semi-final second leg updatesSign up for The Fiver, our daily football emailAnd feel free to email Jacob or tweet @JacobSteinberg 6.54pm BST Fulham: Bettinelli; Fredericks, Odoi, Ream, Targett; McDonald, Johansen; Kamara, Cairney, Sessegnon; Mitrovic. Subs: Button, Kalas, Christie, Norwood, Piazon, Ayite, Fonte.Derby: Carson; Wisdom, Keogh, Davies, Forsyth, Anya; Huddlestone, Johnson, Lawrence; Weimann, Jerome. Subs: Roos, Palmer, Pearce, Ledley, Vydra, Hanson, Nugent. 6.46pm BST An email! “Nerviness is right,” David Hopkins says. “I tried to tell myself that Derby squeezing up through the playoffs might not be a good thing after what happened last time they did that, but it hasn’t worked.” 6.43pm BST While we wait for the team news, here’s Nick Miller’s preview of tonight’s game. Related: Fulham try to lift onus off Ryan Sessegnon in bid to overhaul Derby 6.42pm BST Enter #FFC! ???? pic.twitter.com/WLundqzyFx 10.27am BST Are Fulham going to blow it? They might be about to blow it. They’re regarded by many as the best footballing side in the Championship – don’t shout at me, Wolves fans, that’s what other people are saying – but that might not stop them from blowing it. They’ve already missed out on automatic promotion to Cardiff City, despite going 476 games unbeaten, and are in danger of suffering more play-off woe after freezing in the first leg of their semi-final against Derby County on Friday night.Derby arriving at Craven Cottage clutching a one-goal lead thanks to Cameron Jerome and Gary Rowett’s men will back themselves to get the job done. They can be a stubborn lot when they’re in the mood and will certainly take a repeat of the 1-1 draw they earned at this ground in November. Fulham, however, will back themselves to turn this around. They have the firepower to do so and Derby, remember, finished 13 points behind them in sixth place. You can make arguments for either side: welcome to the nerviness of a play-off semi-final. Related: Fulham try to lift onus off Ryan Sessegnon in bid to overhaul Derby Continue reading......read full article

Source: TheGuardian