The margins are fine in the race for promotion out of League One, but Derby County have been told one reason why they are ahead of Bolton Wanderers.
Derby County bounced back from their disappointing goalless draw against Wycombe Wanderers by putting Leyton Orient to the sword at Pride Park.
It could have been a nerve-shredding afternoon however, Paul Warne‘s men cruised to a 3-0 victory thanks to a Kane Wilson effort and a Sonny Bradley double.
The comfortable win swung the promotion pendulum back in Derby’s favour as Bolton Wanderers drew against Portsmouth, opening up a four-point gap.
It means that, while the Trotters have a game in hand, Warne’s side only need to secure victories over Cambridge United and Carlisle to guarantee promotion back to the Championship.
Derby’s success this term is built on defensive solidity, ranking joint first in League One for fewest goals conceded while demonstrating their threat through one avenue at the other end.
Derby County have scored the most goals from set pieces in the EFL
Derby’s offensive threat can be attributed to the likes of Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and James Collins having scored 22 goals between them in their league.
The Rams are also the most threatening team from set pieces in the football league, scoring an impressive 23 of their 75 goals from these situations.
All three of their goals on Saturday were scored from a corner, with Bradley using his aerial threat to get on the end of Conor Hourihane‘s tantalising deliveries.
The Rams have scored almost a third of their league goals from a set piece, which speaks volumes about their work on the training ground and explains why they’re ahead of Bolton in the table.
Ali Maxwell believes this is why they’ve stolen a march in the promotion race as their goals have arrived at crucial moments.
“Derby County have the best set piece goal difference in the EFL,” Ali told the Not The Top 20 podcast. “That was the case before the weekend before they scored three more goals from set piece situations.
“It is realistically, when you boil down the fact they’re on 86 points and Bolton are on 82 points; the difference in how efficient they’ve been from those situations is a massive massive factor. For that Conor Hourihane’s left foot is the stuff of dreams.”
Conor Hourihane’s wand of a left foot
Hourihane’s wand of a left foot has accelerated Derby’s threat from set pieces, and the 33-year-old has the statistics to show for it.
The Republic of Ireland maestro has supplied eight assists this term, predominantly from set pieces, which increases his importance to this Rams side.
There isn’t anyone else in the squad who can produce a dead ball delivery quite like him, and although he’s no longer as energetic as he once was, his deliveries from a dead ball more than make up for it.
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