Derby County host Bolton Wanderers this afternoon in a mouth-watering clash at the top of League One.
Derby arrive into the contest one point above Bolton in second and can pull four clear by sealing a victory at Pride Park.
Paul Warne has previously said that this fixture doesn’t define their whole season, but creating a four-point gap between them and the Trotters could be huge in the grand scheme of their promotion chances.
The Rams are currently on a three-game winning streak, sealing victories over Port Vale, Bristol Rovers and Reading.
During that run, Dwight Gayle has announced himself to the Derby faithful by scoring in each of those matches and the 34-year-old must continue to deliver this afternoon.
Despite looking impressive on the pitch recently, Warne was met with the damaging news that Ryan Nyambe will play no further part this season and is sidelined till the summer.
The only position that the Derby boss has changed in his last few matches is midfield, however, he did say he’s open to making alterations against Bolton as some of his older players looked fatigued in midweek.
With that said, here’s how the Rams could line up against Bolton Wanderers…
Derby County predicted XI vs Bolton Wanderers
The return date of Josh Vickers is unknown, which means Joe Wildsmith won’t lose his place in between the sticks anytime soon.
As for the defence, Warne is unlikely to change his solid back three of Curtis Nelson, Sonny Bradley and Eiran Cashin, although Bradley did come off in the win over Reading after falling ill.
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Joe Ward has been outstanding since returning to the side as a right wing-back, assisting twice against Port Vale and supplying an inch-perfect cross to Dwight Gayle for his goal in midweek.
Louie Sibley has also been in excellent form on the other flank and the academy graduate should keep his place this afternoon, although the return of Craig Forsyth will add direct competition.
In the engine room, tackling machine Ebou Adams partnered match winner Conor Hourihane against Reading and although Korey Smith is pushing for a spot in the starting XI, Warne will surely count upon Hourihane’s experience against Bolton.
Warne has deployed a forward trio of Tom Barkhuizen, Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and Gayle.
Barkhuizen is the one who drops in behind the two centre forwards who will be looking to win a crucial encounter for Derby.