Derby County will be looking to bounce back from defeat when they host Northampton Town in League One on Tuesday night at Pride Park.
The Rams lost 3-1 away to Stevenage on Saturday afternoon, with goals from Jordan Roberts, Alex MacDonald and Kane Hemings cancelling out Nathaniel Mendez-Laing’s strike as Derby lost their second game in three.
The result pushed Derby down to ninth position, five points off of the playoff positions.
The result put more pressure on manager Paul Warne from the fans, but it has since come out that he will be backed by the board, so he will need a result tonight to get the fans back on board.
Who is currently out for Derby?
Currently Derby County don’t have many players out in the sidelines, with Tyreece John-Jules and Liam Thompson the only players on the injury list.
Callum Elder and Joe Ward have returned to training following recoveries from a hernia and a knee injury respectively, with both playing 45 minutes in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Stoke City for the under-21s last week.
Ward was deemed to be fit enough to play a part on Saturday, coming on in the 81st minute in place of Ryan Nyambe.
Veteran Craig Forsyth and 22-year-old academy graduate Louis Sibley were both hooked off at half time on Saturday, and with Warne liking to make changes after a defeat, there is a high chance we could see these two be dropped.
Ward has been shown in training to be able to play down the left hand side, so he could be preferred to Forsyth, with Elder still not McGrath fit.
Here’s how we think Derby County could line up against Northampton Town on Tuesday night.
Wildsmith (GK)
Nyambe
Nelson
Cashin
Ward
Smith
Hourihane
Wilson
Bird
Mendez-Laing
Washington
Tuesday’s game kicks off at 7:45pm.