Almost exactly a year ago, Chris Smalling endured one of his toughest days in a Manchester United shirt.
As derby rivals Manchester City welcomed to the Etihad Stadium for the first derby of last season, Smalling's rush of blood to the head proved detrimental.
Already on a booking, the England defender flew into a needless challenge on James Milner in the first half which resulted in a deserved red card as United went on to lose 1-0.
Social media was not kind to Smalling, nor was manager Louis van Gaal who publicly branded his second yellow as "stupid".
Yet as United welcome City to Old Trafford this Sunday, it is Smalling who is the cornerstone and leader of Van Gaal's back four, looking more assured than at any point in his time in the red jersey.
The question marks now are on the defenders around him and it will be interesting to see which option his manager goes for for the latest incarnation of the derby.
The early stages of this season belonged to Daley Blind, who sat alongside Smalling, as a less physically impressive defensive partner, but one who appeared to read the game very well.
One of the many faces of Phil Jones as he takes on Lukaku (Image by: Dave Thompson / EMPICS Sport)
However, before United played out a 3-2 victory over Southampton, opposition boss Ronald Koeman suggested that his team would target his Dutch compatriot, stating openly of Blind that "he's not really a strong defender physically".
And that proved to be case with The Daily Mail concluding that the versatile player was "too easily bossed by [Graziano] Pelle too slow to deal with Mane" in their full-time player ratings..
Given that Sergio Aguero - a threat to any defender - is out injured, Wilfried Bony's physicality would pose a dilemma for Blind if he were to start and be targeted by the powerhouse City striker. And Raheem Sterling's pace from the No 10 role would only add to the challenge.
Instead, Blind has been pushed back from the forefront in the last couple of games, and against Everton last weekend it was the more physically robust Phil Jones who was entrusted with the second defensive role beside Smalling as the duo kept a clean sheet. Indeed, Jones, who has been jokingly referred to as a "danger to himself and others" by BBC Chief football writer Phil McNulty, given the player's occasional brushes with injury mishaps was more suited to deal with the physical threat posed by Everton striker Romelu Lukaku, even though he did not exactly cover himself in glory in Russia a few days later.
Phil Jones. A danger to himself and others.
— Phil McNulty (@philmcnulty) March 31, 2015
Statistically, Jones is the defender who has won the most duels for Manchester United this season, which should stand him in good stead against the meaty Bony, who has won a similar proportion of duels for City.
And certainly, the erratic Marcos Rojo is not someone to provide a reliable option as Kenny Cunningham empahsised after United's Champions League draw against CSKA Moscow, describing him as "a squad utility player at best. And I mean at best". The serious injury to Luke Shaw does mean that he is more likely to be pressed into action at left-back as could Blind.
But given that Jones started against Everton and CSKA in consecutive games, it appears he has the headstart as well as some of the physical attributes needed to go up against a City side spearheaded by Bony.
Manchester United v Manchester City kicks off at 2pm this Sunday and is live on Newstalk's Off The Ball.
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