Derby County Ladies defend the County Cup that they have held for the past four seasons this Sunday when they take on Long Eaton at Belper Town’s Christchurch Meadow ground, however according to club Chief Executive, Duncan Gibb, the club go into it at something of a disadvantage.

“ All of the clubs that operate at Premier League level are obliged to compete within their individual county FA’s county cup competition, however this season the Derbyshire FA have implemented a rule stating that only five players that have made a premier league appearance can play in any given fixture. From what we can glean the same ruling has not been applied across other counties and it is therefore something of a standalone decision.

We don’t have any particular issue with it, however what it does mean is that the team that plays on Sunday will by numbers be Derby County Reserves as opposed to Derby County. In some respects it’s a shame as Long Eaton have made huge strides this season backed by some significant investment and i’m sure that they would have enjoyed testing themselves against our first team. Unfortunately they are not going to have the chance to do that.

Last weekend Ewe Rams put in a hugely spirited performance against title chasing Sporting Albion, however despite going 1-0 up through Nikki Ledgester they eventually went down 2-1. Whilst the result ultimately lead to manager Stuart Wilson parting company with the club after a poor run of results, it saw club founder and secretary, Sheila Rollinson fulfil a long held dream of playing in a Premier league fixture. Rollinson who retired nearly 20 years ago was introduced as a substitute five minutes from time, thereby allowing her to fulfil her ambition four days after her 60th birthday.

“ Women’s football and Derby County have been in my blood for more years than I care or wish to remember “ reflected Rollinson “ The two sides provided me with a guard of honour at the start of the game and Albion manager, Graham Abercrombie told me after the match that he hopes that one day his club would have someone from within their structure who they could afford the same experience. The result wasn’t ideal but the occasion was “

The county cup kicks off at 2-00pm with admission £ 3 for adults