Fulham and Derby meet for the second time this season, on this occassion in the 3rd round of the Worthington Cup. In their first meeting, in the Premiership, the match was a bore draw with Derby fielding a 10 man defence which Fulham were unable to penetrate.

The two clubs met in this competition last year in the 4th round when the Cottagers won an exciting game 3-2 at Stevenage Rd. Fulham were knocked out in the quarter finals away at Liverpool.

It has not been plain sailing for Jean Tigana's Fulham so far in the Premiership with goals being few and far between. Last season the Nationwide Champions were scoring an average of 2 goals a game in comparison to the 1 a game they are managing at the moment

The Cottagers have conceded an average of just over a goal per game, although letting in three against both Manchester United and Arsenal has distorted the figure- Fulham have recorded three clean sheets already in their seven Premiership matches.

Derby has struggled for the last two seasons staving off relegation last season by an unexpected win away at Man Utd. This season the Rams have struggled right from the start leaving them currently one place off the bottom on goal difference. On Sunday the Derby board decided that a fresh hand on the tiller was required and popular Jim Smith was offered the dreaded Director of Football position after 6 years as the Manager.

So Derby will arrive at Craven Cottage under the leadership of Colin Bell who Jim Smith appointed as assistant manager last season. Bell won two old style First Division championship with Derby in the 70's and is reported to have played a big part in saving the Rams from relagation last year.

In light of the management merry go round it will be hard for the Derby squad to concentrate on the game at Fulham particularly as it is known that the club is under pressure from it's bankers to reduce a debt of £20m and will be selling players to clear the debt. Despite Jim Smith being able to secure the services of Fabrizio Ravanelli in the close season his three goals have not been able to lift the rest of the squad.

Jean Tigana has always made it clear that the club's league ambitions came before the cup competitions and as he has an away fixture at Aston Villa on Sunday Fulham's starting line-up could see a number of changes. Despite this Fulham may have an unexpected opportunity to get some goal scoring practice to boost their confidence for the Premiership.