Derby County’s home clash with Lincoln City has been moved from Saturday 23rd December to Thursday 21st December in a recent update.
The Rams are looking to get back to winning ways after dropping points in the final minute of their match against Wycombe Wanderers on Saturday.
It looked as though Tom Barkhuizen’s 83rd-minute goal from the bench would have been enough to secure Derby’s sixth successive win in League One, however, the visitors had other ideas.
They were awarded a penalty in the 98th minute as Joe Ward was adjudged to have brought down David Wheeler, with Luke Leahy confidently dispatching the resulting spot kick.
After the match, Paul Warne compared his side’s first-half display to the “Wild West” as five of his players were shown yellow cards.
It was an uncharacteristic performance from the Rams, who had kept three consecutive clean sheets before this match and will be out to make amends against Lincoln on Thursday night.
This clash was originally meant to be played on Saturday 23rd December, but the club have detailed why it has been brought back two days.
Why are Derby County now in action on Thursday night?
Over the festive period, every side has jam-packed fixture schedules with Derby themselves embarking on a run of seven matches in the space of the month.
Given fixture congestion is a major problem over Christmas, the club discussed with the local authorities about changing the original date of the match and they were successful in their appeal.
A press release on Derby County’s official website states: “The match was due to be played on Saturday 23rd December and it was communicated last month that it would be brought forward to Friday 22nd December to provide an extra day of recovery for both clubs going into the Christmas games programme.
“Following lengthy dialogue with the local authorities in recent weeks, the two clubs have agreed to bring the fixture forward by a further day and it will now be played on Thursday 21st December (7:45pm kick-off).”
Derby will benefit from extra rest
An extra day or two to recover over the festive period can make a world of difference. It means that Derby and Lincoln get a five-day rest before they are next in action on Boxing Day, whereas the rest will only get three.
The majority of other sides in the Football League will be playing on Saturday 23rd, Tuesday 26th and Friday 29th.
Although a run of three fixtures across nine days is a common theme over Christmas, it is a drain on a club’s resources, especially those who are operating on a shoestring budget.
Derby are, therefore, being rewarded for asking the authorities to move the date of the fixture well in advance.
It also means Warne’s side will enter the festive programme well-rested and ready to launch an assault on the automatic promotion places.