Derby County will be hoping to maintain their stunning form in League One when they travel to Oxford United on Friday night.
The Rams have strengthened their automatic promotion chances in recent weeks after winning seven of their last eight League One matches.
Paul Warne’s side are in fourth position in the table, two points behind second-place Peterborough United with a game in hand.
A victory over the U’s, who are now managed by Des Buckingham, would only improve their chances of returning to the Championship.
After beating Wigan Athletic on Boxing Day thanks to Curtis Nelson’s first-half header, there is strong belief that Derby can send out another statement of intent against Oxford.
There will be a reluctance to change the side that earned three points in Lancashire, however, Warne has hinted at reshuffling his pack, despite performing out of their skin against Wigan.
Speaking to RamsTV after the win against the Latics, he said: “We will probably shuffle the pack a little bit but there was some amazing performances at Wigan and I didn’t really want to make a change in-game because sometimes you don’t know if you’ll make it worse or better”.
With this in mind, here’s how Derby could lineup against Oxford…
Predicted Derby County XI vs Oxford United
Joe Wildsmith will continue in between the sticks and he’s revealed his side are up for the challenge on Friday. The 28-year-old has been part of a defence that has conceded just six goals in their last 10 matches.
After signing a contract extension till 2025, Derby supporters will be pleased to see Ryan Nyambe performing back to his best, and he can continue to show his class against the U’s.
In central defence, Eiran Cashin and Curtis Nelson are arguably the first two names on the team sheet and they showed why their partnership was labelled as ‘colossal’ in the victory over Wigan.
Although Callum Elder is back in contention, veteran Craig Forsyth will keep his spot at left-back and is a dependable figure for the Rams.
In the win over the Latics, Warne tweaked his formation to a 4-4-2 to perhaps give themselves more of a threat upfront.
This means skipper Conor Hourihane and midfield maestro Max Bird will continue their partnership in the engine room.
On the right, Warne could controversially drop Kane Wilson for Joe Ward, placing the former Peterborough United man further up the pitch.
Ward was poor against Lincoln as Wilson produced heroics from the bench but Warne has hinted at making a change and the £7k-a-week man can make amends against Oxford.
Tom Barkhuizen was excellent on the left side of midfield against Wigan and there is no reason why he should be dropped after grabbing the assist for Nelson’s goal.
Up front, Nathaniel Mendez-Laing will look to continue his strong form having scored five and assisted eight this season while partnering top scorer James Collins.