da roleta： Derby have been the nearly men of the Championship’s promotion race for the past few seasons. They have often fallen into the play-offs, with failure to win their pivotal fixtures at key times having been a big, big issue.
da bet vitoria： The talent is there in the Rams’ squad, without question, and maybe this could be the year that they finally put an end to their long-run of mediocre Championship football and leap up to join the big timers.
Paul Clement’s departure towards the end of last year raised eyebrows, but the poor run of form the ex-Real Madrid coach had overseen had held the club back in the fierce scrap for automatic promotion. There has been a slight recovery from that period of poor form and Derby are left in limbo between fighting for their top six place and joining Brighton and Hull in chasing down the top two.
If they want to gain automatic promotion, the Rams simply must win these FIVE..
Off to Wales..
Four points currently separate Cardiff and Derby in the table, although this could be markedly different when they meet on April 2nd.
Both sides have scored the same number of goals in the league this season – 47 – but Cardiff have conceded eight more than the Rams in their 36 games to date.
Visit of the Tigers
The next game week for Derby sees the visit of Hull City/Hull Tigers/whatever they fancy calling themselves these days.
The midweek clash is one of Hull’s two games in hand on the Rams and is a huge opportunity for Derby to close the gap on the top four. Hull, despite having played two games less, currently have four more points than County and victory in this one would be a huge dent in the Rams’ promotion hopes.
Play-off challenging Wednesday
Like with Hull, four points separate Wednesday and Derby. However, Sheffield Wednesday are currently four points behind the Rams and are in the precarious position of the final play-off spot.
Wednesday are without a win in five, but the second highest scorers in the league will fancy their chances against Derby, who have also shown a great level of inconsistency of late.
This fixture is played on April 23rd, after a run of lower table sides where Derby should be aiming to pick up a run of victories.
South Coast travels
In the penultimate game of the season, currently third place Brighton take on fifth place Derby, and it could be a significant game for both clubs.
There is a chance, albeit remote, that these two sides will already have guaranteed their automatic promotion to the top flight by this point, however, Boro, Hull and Burnley might have something to say about that.
Final day mayhem
Ipswich travel to Derby on the final day of the season with both sides hoping they will still have plenty to play for.
Ipswich are eyeing up a push for a play-off place, as they are currently only one point outside the top six, whilst Derby might be in a position of needing a win to guarantee automatic promotion.
The East Anglia outfit have lost more games than any other top eight side, but know that winning their game in hand will take them to within two points of Derby.