Is Billy Davies really the answer to life, the universe and everything?

That was the deep thought that crossed my mind when I heard the points target he set for Derby this season was 42.

For those of you not familiar with the Douglas Adams trilogy in four parts, The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, a group of hyper-intelligent pan dimensional beings decided to seek the ‘Ultimate Answer’ to life, the universe and everything. After running for seven and a half million years a computer came up with the answer 42 and suggested that what they really needed to know was the question.

And that was my next thought – okay so that’s how many points we need, but the real question is how and where are we going to get them?

After this weekend’s disappointing no-show against Tottenham that question quickly came into focus. One point from a possible nine certainly isn’t going to equate to anywhere near enough to keep us in the division – in fact it would only give us about 13 points if extrapolated across the season.

So is it time to start worrying? Despite our apparent lack of desire at White Hart Lane, I would say that now is definitely not the time to get too concerned. If we analyse the league a little more closely I think we can begin to see how important our home form will be.

Out of the 42 points I would expect at least two thirds of them to be gained at Pride Park, confirming how vital our support of the team will be this season. I believe that 30 home points is a feasible target, leaving 12 to be garnered on our travels.

But who are we likely to get these points against? And who is it most important that we get these points from? Not the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United or Tottenham away from home, that’s for sure. No, we have to beat teams like Sunderland, Bolton and Birmingham, particularly at home. Which points to next Saturday’s game being the biggest of the season so far.

For those interested in my predictions here is how I see our points breakdown.

Against the big four (Man Utd., Chelsea, Liverpool & Arsenal) I see us collecting absolutely zilch either home or away.

The next group of five (Everton, Tottenham, Newcastle, Blackburn & Man City) I see us collecting 1 point away from home and 8 at Pride Park.

From the mid-table collective (Portsmouth, Aston Villa, Reading, West Ham & Middlesbrough) I believe we need 4 points on the road and 10 at home.

The most crucial group will be our fellow strugglers (Birmingham, Sunderland, Bolton, Fulham & Wigan) where we will need 7 points away and 12 at home.

If my maths are correct this will give us 42 points and, I’m sure you’ll agree, would be the ultimate answer for all Rams fans this season.

This makes next Saturday an enormous fixture. Pundits may say it’s too soon to talk of six pointers, but I don’t see it that way. If we beat Brum they will have just 1 point after facing four of the lesser teams in this division. That will be hard to recover from.

So whatever our feelings about big name signings, ambition and whether our players are good enough we have to sweep this under the carpet at 3pm on the 25th August. Because three points gained then means we can enjoy our trip to Liverpool with the pressure off and, you never know, perhaps cause an upset along the way.

But what will be will be, so even if the unthinkable happens and we lose next week remember the advice written in big letters on the front cover of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, the most reassuring words you’re likely to read all day and the best bit of advice in the whole universe – ‘Don’t Panic’.

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