Jose Mourinho Full Of Praise For Derby County And The SkyBet Championship
Chelsea FC will face Derby County for the second time in two seasons and manager Jose Mourinho was full of praise for the Rams and the Championship. Derby currently sit third in the SkyBet Championship table, behind first and second by just a point behind first and second place. They have been one of the best teams in the division and have only lost one match out of 21 they have played in the league so far.
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Mourinho spoke to ChelseaFC.com about how difficult the Championship is and said, “The Championship is a league where the top teams in the table have already four defeats, so it is a league where already they know there is a great balance and it is normal for them to lose matches. If they lose two matches they are out of the top six, if they win two matches they are in promotion positions – so I don’t think they are affected by that.”
He continued to say,”the Championship is a very competitive league. It is amazing – 24 teams, play-offs, lots of matches including midweek, very strong physical sides and it must be a very hard league for sure. Obviously Derby will try to get into the Capital One Cup semi-finals which would be a great achievement for them but also for us, and we are going to try.”
Jose Mourinho also spoke about the last time Chelsea FC faced Derby County last season in the FA Cup. The Blues won the match 2-0 courtesy of goals from Oscar and John Obi Mikel but it was not an easy match for the Blues. Mourinho said of the match, “Derby were a strong team then and they are a strong team now, but with more time with the same manager they have more conditions to be stable and to be a better team, which I think they are. This is a cup match, a quarter-final, big motivation for them and we have to equal that motivation so our bigger talent can win.”
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There is not much of a difference between a lower table Premier League team and a top Championship team so the Blues may as well be facing a Premier League rival in Derby County. This will not be an easy fixture and that is why Mourinho has decided to field an experienced and very good lineup. He has already told his squad that the League Cup is a trophy that he wants to win this season and his lineups are reflecting that desire.. He is resting Gary Cahill but the rest of the big guns will feature and hopefully they can dispatch Derby County with relative ease.