Both still in danger of suffering relegation to League One, Derby County and Stoke City clash on the final day of the Championship season at Pride Park.
The Rams have boosted their survival hopes with heroics on the road in recent times, whilst the Potters are somewhat stumbling towards confirmation of another term in the second tier of English football.
Match preview
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Following a four-game winless streak at the beginning of April, it appeared as if Derby County were destined for an immediate return to the stresses of third-tier football, however a miraculous week of back-to-back away victories have put the fate of the Rams in their own hands.
The most recent of those successes arrived at the Humberside base of relegation-threatened Hull City last weekend, when Liverpool loanee Nat Phillips provided a magical moment at the top end of the pitch, firing home a 84th-minute strike to tame the hosting Tigers.
Collecting six points from their last two matches of a hectic April schedule, Derby are currently occupying 19th spot in the Championship standings ahead of this weekend’s crunch battle with Stoke, two points and three places both Hull in the highest of the relegation spots.
Despite a shock defeat to fellow strugglers Luton Town in the East Midlands on Good Friday, John Eustace‘s men should be relatively confident of conjuring up an enjoyable afternoon for their Pride Park faithful this weekend, with Derby beating playoff-chasing Coventry City and Blackburn Rovers at home recently.
With a number of last season’s top goalscorers no longer part of the squad at the Rams, Swansea City loanee Jerry Yates has stepped up to the attacking plate for Derby, with the 28-year-old bagging 10 league goals this term, further proving himself as a respectable Championship striker.
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Enjoying FA Cup semi-finals and Championship playoff runs as Coventry manager in recent times, Mark Robins is now firmly in-situ at Stoke, who are aiming to avoid an embarrassing relegation to League One on the final day following six straight years of midtable finishes at this level.
It looked as if the Potters were on the beach after a vital Good Friday triumph over Sheffield Wednesday at the bet365 Stadium in front of a record crowd for a second-tier match in Staffordshire, however consecutive defeats to Leeds United and Sheffield United have thrown Robins’s men back into trouble.
After losing their last two contests by an aggregate scoreline of 8-0, Stoke are sitting in 18th position ahead of a final-day jaunt across the Midlands to Pride Park, boasting 50 points after 45 games, two points ahead of Ruben Selles‘s Hull in the danger of 22nd spot.
The Potters will be aiming to avoid a repeat of their most recent away trip on April 21, when the visitors were the latest victims of an Elland Road storm, with Daniel Farke‘s Premier League-bound Leeds running out convincing 6-0 winners on a miserable Monday night for Stoke.
Stoke are winless across their last four competitive matches at Pride Park (W2,D2), with their most recent triumph at the venue arriving in January 2012, when Cameron Jerome and Robert Huth found the net for Tony Pulis‘s Potters in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
Team News
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Derby are without the services of first-choice goalkeeper Jacob Zetterstrom, who suffered a broken collarbone during a match versus Portsmouth last month.
The Rams’ defensive options are reduced further by the absence of Ryan Nyambe, with the former Blackburn stalwart picking up a hamstring problem.
There are issues down the spine of Eustace’s side, with Lars-Jorgen Salvesen and David Ozoh both unable to feature at Pride Park this weekend.
Stoke’s left-back choices have been decimated in recent times by the injuries of summer arrival Eric Bocat and second-tier expert Enda Stevens.
The Potters’ engine room is also depleted, with both Jordan Thompson (strain) and Ben Pearson (leg) occupying spots in the medical bay.
Derby County possible starting lineup:
Vickers; Langas, Phillips, Clarke; Wilson, L Thompson, Armstrong, Adams, Forsyth; Yates, Harness
Stoke City possible starting lineup:
Johansson; Tchamadeu, Phillips, Wilmot, Gooch; Lawal, Burger, Manhoef, Baker, Koumas; Gallagher
We say: Derby County 1-0 Stoke City
In front of a passionate Pride Park crowd, Derby will be confident of getting over the line and securing their Championship status on Saturday.
Stoke are stumbling towards the second-tier finish line and should be safe from the drop, even if they suffer defeat in the East Midlands.
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