Derby County have the rare luxury of playing a fourth home game on the trot at Pride Park and they’ll no doubt be desperate to make the most of home advantage when they entertain relegation candidates, Rotherham United, as the hosts look to extend their unbeaten run to four matches.
However, Derby have managed just one win from these last three home matches which was a 2-1 win against Wigan Athletic, but back-to-back draws with Sheffield Wednesday 1-1 and a 0-0 stalemate with Stoke City have seen Frank Lampard’s Derby side lose ground in the race for a play-off spot.
Having secured just one win from their last seven matches overall in the Championship, Derby now need to step up in this clash and this fixture represents a ‘must win’ match for The Rams if they want to remain in the mix for a top six finish.
The positive for Derby though is that they’ve lost just 3 of their 19 home matches to date this season, and with their young stars such as forward Marriott (7 goals) along with midfielders Wilson (10 goals), Lawrence (5 goals) and Mount (4 goals), The Rams should find a way to grab the points here.
Rotherham United continue to battle against relegation down near the foot of the Championship and recent wins against Blackburn Rovers (at home) and QPR (away) have handed Paul Warne’s side a valuable lifeline in their bid to avoid the drop down to League One.
The Millers sit third from bottom and are just one point adrift of both Millwall and Reading as they prepare for their trip to the east midlands, but although the wins against Blackburn and QPR provided them with welcome and much needed points, the visitors have also lost to Sheffield united and Norwich City.
The recent win at QPR ended an absolute horrific sequence of 43 away matches without a win in the Championship for Rotherham United, and although they picked up the win at Loftus Road, it remains to be seen whether they can repeat their heroics against a much more solid and organised Derby County outfit on Saturday.
It looks extremely likely though, that Rotherham will come a cropper at Pride Park on Saturday where Derby County have suffered just one loss out of their last 10 matches on home soil - the hosts should take the spoils here.