Derby County will travel to Molineux on Saturday to take on struggling Wolverhampton Wanderers. The two sides are level on points but are separated by a goal difference of just one. However, Derby have the upper hand over their opponents in terms of form. Wolves have not won even one of their last six games while Derby are rising up the table after replacing Nigel Pearson with former boss Steve McClaren.
The Rams have won two of their four games since the former England manager took charge and drawn one while they lost to high-flying Huddersfield.
McClaren is a proven manager in English football and has had good times at Pride Park before he left for the Newcastle job. Derby County have been a regular in playoff spots in the last few seasons but find themselves 19th right now. However, the gap is still recoverable and McClaren will do everything in his power to turn around the fortunes of the promotion aspirants.
Looking at the form Wolves are in (4 losses and 2 draws in their last six games), this should be an easy game for Derby and here is the predicted lineup of the Rams.
Defence
Scott Carson remains the undisputed choice under the bar for the Rams. We can expect experienced Alex Pearce and skipper Richard Keogh starting at the heart of the defence. Pearce was on the scoresheet against Sheffield Wednesday last week in their 2-0 win and was brilliant defensively.
The Scotsman should keep Jason Shackell out of the starting XI. Young bombarding full-back Cyrus Christie will start at right-back after his excellent performance last week where he also got on the scoresheet. Marcus Olsson will start at left-back.
Midfield
Will Hughes was unavailable last weekend after picking up five yellow cards but he is such an important player who will walk back into the starting XI. The Englishman will start at the base of the midfield trio.
Jacob Butterfield and Bradley Johnson will start as the two box to box midfielders. They are both creative players and also possess plenty of energy. McClaren will demand an impressive display from his midfield trio.
Attack
Tom Ince and Johnny Russell will start on the two flanks for the Rams. Neither of the two have been impressive this season and need to pick up their game really soon. We expect veteran Darren Bent to start up front as the number nine.
