 Thursday, 18th Oct 2007 21:13 Another game likely to be billed as a relegation six-pointer. The Rams head for West London to take on Citizen Smith’s favourite team. Fulham v Derby County As all Rams fans will know, the scarf sported by Ilkeston born actor (and singer of Steve Bloomer's watching) Robert Lindsey was actually a Derby scarf. It still doesn't explain why Lindsey elected to sing the Steve Bloomer song in a cod Cockney accent. Fulham are in the bottom three along with us and Bolton. Fulham have conceded eleven goals at home – the worst total in the Premier League – and have only won once. Manager Lawrie Sanchez however is upbeat. "We have played a lot of tough matches recently," Sanchez told the BBC. "Now we have an important sequence coming up. It's hard to see what he means by tough matches. They lost at Portsmouth and held Chelsea to a 0-0 draw but apart from a defeat in the League cup to Bolton, their previous opponents were Wigan and Manchester City. "We play Derby, Sunderland and Reading - teams we should be looking to beat - and it will show if we're good enough." Sanchez went on. The implication of course is that we are among the easier sides to beat. He's right of course. Any manager in the Premier League has to think that his team is capable of beating a team that is yet to score on the road and one that has shipped 17 goals. The Cottagers have not won for seven games and have not won by more than the odd goal for more than 18 months. Despite the upbeat words from Sanchez, he has to be worried. He spent £20m revamping the squad in the summer. In came Diomansy Kamara from West Brom for £6m, along with defenders Chris Baird, Paul Konchesky and Aaron Hughes, Midfielder Steven Davis from Aston Villa for £4m. The spending didn't end there with David Healy joining from Leeds for £1.5m and Lee Cook for £2.5m form QPR. Davies and Healy played under Sanchez and he obviously sets great store by them. Further summer signings include Hameur Bouazza, Adrian Leijer and Kasey Keller. Before the transfer window shut, Sanchez added Dejan Stefanoviæ from Portsmouth, Seol Ki-Hyeon from Reading and Danny Murphy from Tottenham. Clearly, with so many additions, the team is taking time to settle. Mohammed Fayed however is not known for his patience and a season fighting relegation may try even his limited amount. Current Fulham Squad Last 5 games He's not the tallest of strikers, standing only 5'8” however he does score with his head. Defenders take note. Diomansy Kamara should be familiar to all Rams fans. We managed to keep him out in the three games we played last year but he'll probably be fired up by memories of the defeat at Wembley. He certainly should not be underestimated – he has scored 44 goals and is part of the reason the Baggies did so well last year. One problem is his temperament that often sees him in the referee's notebook. Lee Cook & Jimmy Bullard are the only reported injuries at the time of writing. The Rams Will it be this game Billy? Many fans didn't share Billy's appraisal of the game. Dan Brooks deputising for I-Saw on Ramzone said “getting beat 1-0 in a horrendously boring game by Reading [is] quite enough to put the watching punter into a coma.” Shots on target : 0. And that seems to be the problem. We started with the hapless Griffin in defence with Mears in midfield. Mears is a good attacking defender but he‘s not a midfielder. What was Billy thinking? I know we need to defend but packing the midfield with defenders is not going to gain us points away from home. All that happens is that the midfield defends to deep and get in each others way. We've already learned that mistakes at this level cost goals – If we invite the other team onto us we are bound to make at least one mistake – as we did with Reading. One man up front is very easy to defend against as well. Especially when the midfield is all playing behind the ball and unavailable to support the striker. You just put two defenders on him and send the rest up front. So far all we've done on our travels is sit back and hope the opposition are having an off day and it hasn't worked. We have to play to our strengths. Kenny Miller and Rob Earnshaw have both scored while away on international duty. If we play both players up front, Fulham will have to defend well to cope with them. To supply the ball for them we have Craig Fagan back from suspension on the right or Giles Barnes? Giles is the obvious choice if fully fit and committed to the cause but if he's not Fagan should be the choice. On the left we have the choice of Lewis or … Well Camara I suppose. The left side is a problem and maybe we should dispense with a wide midfielder and tighten up in the middle? We can play Pearson, Oakley and Jones (or Todd) in the midfield. Pearson is capable of going out wide with the ball so that takes care of the wing. If Jones can avoid being booked he's capable of getting stuck in where it matters. What about Todd? Has he disappeared? The defence should be Mears, Leacock, Davis and McEveley. And give them some space to do their job. In goals the natural choice is Bywater however after seeing Lewis Price play for Wales, then it's time for Bywater to shape up or he could find himself on the bench. Mick's team: Bywater, Mears, Leacock, Davis, McEveley, Oakley, Todd, Pearson, Fagan, Miller, Earnshaw. Billy will no doubt replace Earnshaw with Barnes and Todd with Jones. What the bookies think Information for travelling fans It's a three hour drive on a good day. The M1, The M25 and the M4 are all classic places for traffic to build up so leave early. Parking: The Cottage is one of the few Premiership grounds where you can park on the local streets – although you do need to load up the parking meters. You also need to arrive early. Don't plan on getting away early either. A slightly better plan would be to park at a tube station and get the tube into Hammersmith or Putney. They're both around 20 minutes from Craven Cottage. Click here for a list of stations with car parks. Drinking: The eight Bells, O'Neills and the Crabtree are all popular with both home and away fans however there are plenty of other pubs likely to be less busy around Earls Court & Old Brompton Rd. There's a pub called the Ram on King Street in Hammersmith – for fans who want to look for omens. The Cottage and the Golden Lion are for home fans only. Mick's Prediction Fulham may concede goals but they also score them. If we go out to defend 0-0 we will lose. If we go out to score we may still lose but It's be much more entertaining for the fans. We haven't had much to celebrate so far this year. At least give us a shot on target Billy. 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