Notts County host Derby County in the Rams’ last pre-season bout

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Derby County travel to Meadow Lane on Sunday afternoon to face non-league opposition Notts County in what is the final game of pre-season for Wayne Rooney’s squad.

The Magpies have had a largely successful pre-season campaign so far, recording three wins from as many games. Ian Burchnall’s men are showing no early signs of a play-off hangover ahead of their third consecutive season of fifth tier football.

In slightly less glamorous form, Derby have won just one of their three friendlies to date. The silver lining; their sole victory was over a strong Real Betis side set to compete in the Europa League during the upcoming campaign.

Rooney is heavily reliant on trialists at the moment due to the Rams’ current embargo, meaning free agents such as Phil Jagielka, Ravel Morrison and Sone Aluko, alongside several others, are likely to feature once again for the East Midlands outfit in their hunt to secure a contract with the club.

One player that will be missing for the visitors is Jason Knight. As was shockingly revealed last week, the youngster is currently sidelined for 8-12 weeks following a 50/50 challenge with his own manager. 

Players unavailable for the hosts include Lewis Knight, Frank Vincent, Alex Lacey and Tyreace Palmer who are all at varying stages of their recoveries prior to their returns to first team action.

Cal Roberts will start for Burchnall’s side following his rest against Boston United on Tuesday. The Magpies also hope to give Aaron Nemane a few minutes against the Rams following his recovery from a lengthy injury. 

Sunday’s affair will be the first time these two sides have faced off since July 2018, also a pre-season friendly at Meadow Lane. Derby ran out 4-1 winners on the day and will certainly be hoping for a similar scoreline this time round in order to gain a crucial confidence boost ahead of their season opener against Huddersfield Town next weekend.

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