Derby County target play-off spot in East Midlands Derby

Derby County could move into the Sky Bet Championship play-off spots with a victory over Nottingham Forest tonight.

The Rams hope to bounce back from Saturday’s disappointing defeat to Millwall by retaining the Brian Clough Trophy against their local rivals.

Frank Lampard’s side were beaten by Jed Wallace’s second-half strike at the iPro Stadium at the weekend; however, the Rams are unbeaten against their East Midlands rivals in six league matches, winning three and drawing three.

Forest currently find themselves six points adrift of the play-off spots but are hitting a difficult run of form. Martin O’Neil’s side have won twice in the seven games since their Emirates FA Cup defeat to Chelsea, losing at Reading and at home to Bristol City in successive games. A win against Wigan Athletic seemed to be a turning point but that was followed by a 2-0 defeat at Birmingham City and then a 2-1 win at Brentford.

The Reds have drawn their previous games at West Bromwich Albion and Preston North End respectively.

Team news

Having seemingly turned a corner in their patchy form, three games unbeaten for the Reds could see O’Neill name an unchanged squad for the visit of Derby.

However, Michael Dawson, Michael Hefele, Tobias Figueiredo and Hillal Soudani remain sidelined with injuries.

The East Midlands Derby could be a game too soon for Mason Mount to return to the Rams’ squad as he continues to recover from a muscle injury; Tom Lawrence is also a doubt for Frank Lampard’s side but Scott Carson could return from the sidelines.

From the bosses

Speaking ahead of the East Midlands Derby, Rams boss Frank Lampard said:

“What will make or break us going forward is how many games we win.

“There are 14 games and if we can put together enough of a run then it will be in our hands, if we can’t then it will be very difficult.

“We can’t look elsewhere, we start with ourselves and we start Monday night.”

He added: “When you play for a club you need to hold it dear, feel what the fans think, to want success for the club itself and it needs to mean more than to be just a workplace.

“As a football player you need to feel that and use it as motivation. “

Forest boss Martin O’Neill, who appeared 285 times for the Reds, recounted his memories as a Forest player competing against Derby:

“I am looking forward to it. I played in a few, obviously, during my time here as a player under Mr Clough who had great days with both clubs. For me, it is new territory and I am looking forward to it immensely.

“I have some really good memories, and some not so good. I remember in the year that we won the league, Derby were the third or fourth game here and we won quite convincingly which was good news for us because it kept us on a decent league run.

“Then I remember going to Derby and winning in poor conditions. I also remember us getting well beaten at Derby which the manager wasn’t very pleased with. All told, they are always decent memories one way or another.