The Championship action continues on Wednesday evening and Derby County play host to Wigan Athletic at Pride Park as the hosts look to bounce back from a disappointing 3-0 loss away from home at Charlton Athletic on the weekend.
That recent loss at The Valley ended Derby County’s promising 5-match sequence without defeat in the Championship as Philip Cocu’s side were slowly starting to show improvement under his reign, which included recent wins against Birmingham City and Luton Town.
Both of these aforementioned wins were registered on home turf at Pride Park where The Rams are unbeaten in their last 4 matches which also includes taking points off league leaders, West Brom and also Cardiff City in 1-1 draws.
It was always going to be a tough act to follow former manager, Frank Lampard, as Derby reached the play-offs at the end of last season, but the hosts are starting to show signs of improvement under Cocu and 3 points in this clash could see Derby move up into a more respectable mid-table position.
Wigan Athletic have once again settled into their familiar pattern of proving hard to beat at their DW Stadium but an ‘easy-beat’ on their travels as The Latics secured what could prove to be a vital 1-0 home win against Nottingham Forest on Sunday.
The visitors have won their last 3 home matches on the trot with wins against Charlton Athletic, Birmingham City and Nottingham Forest, in addition to losing just once on home turf to date this season.
Meanwhile, away from home, Wigan have continued to struggle though as they’ve lost 5 of their opening 6 matches away from home in the Championship, earning just 1 point from the last possible 18 on offer on the road thanks to a 2-2 draw away at Hull City.
Defeats at Preston North End, Middlesbrough, QPR, Fulham and Sheffield Wednesday emphasise the troubles Wigan have had on the road this term, but this is nothing new for Wigan fans as their side have captured just 1 win away from home out of their last 27 matches, which, incidentally, was a highly unlikely 2-1 win at Leeds United!
The form book suggests a home win here though for Derby County and the hosts can be backed at a good price.