Former Derby County boss Frank Lampard gears up for his Pride Park homecoming on Tuesday evening, as the Chelsea legend takes his Coventry City side to meet the Rams in the Championship.
The Sky Blues maintained their playoff push in a 3-2 triumph over Stoke City at the weekend, while the Rams' lengthy winless run ended with a 2-1 success over Blackburn Rovers.
Match preview
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The script had been written for Derby boss John Eustace to claim his first win as head coach over former club Blackburn Rovers, whom he left to jump ship for the Rams in the middle of February, and the 45-year-old revelled in an emotional occasion on Saturday.
Two quickfire strikes from Craig Forsyth and Ebou Adams inside the opening seven minutes put Derby firmly in the ascendancy before Makhtar Gueye reduced the deficit for Blackburn, but there was to be no late reprieve for Eustace's erstwhile employers.
By sinking his old team at Pride Park, Eustace ended a dampening winless run for Derby stretching all the way back to a Boxing Day success over West Bromwich Albion, since when they had gone an unlucky 13 games without victory, losing 11 of them.
However, a long-awaited first win of the Eustace era - and indeed 2025 - means that the Rams have lifted themselves off the foot of the Championship table and into 22nd place above Luton Town and Plymouth Argyle, and the gap to Cardiff City in 21st spot is now just four points.
Forsyth and Adams's efforts on Saturday not only ended Derby's abysmal winless sequence, but an equally embarrassing six-game run without a goal at Pride Park, although claiming back-to-back wins for the first time since September will be a tall order if Coventry's exploits are anything to go by.
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Six years after guiding Derby to the 2018-19 Championship playoff final during his first job as a head coach, Lampard now harbours ambitions of steering Coventry into the big time, as the former Chelsea boss continues to work his managerial magic with the Sky Blues.
However, Coventry were seconds away from agonisingly dropping two points against Stoke, as Victor Torp's double was cancelled out by Sam Gallagher's own brace, only for defender Bobby Thomas to write his hero arc with the winner in the seventh minute of added time.
The centre-back has been making a habit of scoring critical goals for Coventry over the past few weeks, also netting decisive strikes in slender successes over Queens Park Rangers and Preston North End as Lampard's side rejoice in a five-game winning run.
The visitors' extraordinary Championship form has seen them move three points clear of seventh-placed Bristol City in the playoff spots, and victory at Pride Park on Tuesday would also mark a fifth straight away league win for Coventry, who last enjoyed such a terrific sequence in 2012.
The Sky Blues' memories of this fixture are not exactly fond, though, as they were slain 2-1 by Derby earlier this season and are winless in their last nine away league games versus the Rams, last achieving success all the way back in October 2003.
Team News
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Derby's morale-boosting win over Blackburn came in spite of four new injury blows, and two of those victims - Lars-Jorgen Salvesen (knee) and Ben Osborn (hamstring) - may now miss the remainder of the Championship season.
Eustace has also confirmed that Ryan Nyambe will be out for the next fortnight with his own hamstring concern, and a similar issue kept Kemar Roofe out of the weekend's victory and will likely render him unavailable for this one too.
The Derby doctors are certainly earning their keep this weekend, as Sondre Langas could only last 59 minutes of the Blackburn game due to a lack of match fitness and is now a doubt for Tuesday, while David Ozoh (thigh), Curtis Nelson (knee), Dajaune Brown (hamstring) and Corey Blackett-Taylor (hamstring) are still out for the long-term.
It is not all doom and gloom for the Rams, though, as the club have signed experienced midfielder Jeff Hendrick on a short-term contract, and the former Newcastle United man could come into contention for this one.
Lampard can partially empathise with Eustace when it comes to new injury blows, as both Ephron Mason-Clark (toe) and Milan van Ewijk (Achilles) were forced off against Stoke, although he is still hopeful that both of their issues will settle down in time for Tuesday.
Brandon Thomas-Asante and Haji Wright are waiting in the wings in case Mason-Clark's issue rules him out, though, while Joel Latibeaudiere will step into Van Ewijk's shoes if need be.
The visitors' only other injury victim at present is Jack Rudoni, who will be missing for another few weeks at least due to a dislocated shoulder.
Derby County possible starting lineup:
Widell Zetterstrom; Forsyth, Phillips, Clarke; Wilson, Thompson, Adams, Armstrong, Elder; Harness, Yates
Coventry City possible starting lineup:
Dovin; Latibeaudiere, Thomas, Kitching, Dasilva; Eccles, Grimes, Torp; Sakamoto, Simms, Thomas-Asante
We say: Derby County 1-2 Coventry City
A rejuvenated Derby side riding on cloud nine after Saturday's win should find some joy against a leaky Coventry backline, as Lampard's men have now failed to keep a clean sheet in six of their last seven games.
However, one positive result does not mean that the Rams' attacking woes have been solved overnight, and a far more ruthless Coventry outfit should overpower their hosts in the final third as Lampard makes a winning return to Pride Park.
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Ben Knapton
