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Derby County host Nottingham Forest in a Championship clash on Friday night, with both sides looking to build on rather impressive recent form.
Wayne Rooney's Derby have won three of their last five matches in the Championship, and are inching clear of the relegation zone.
After their 2-0 win over Huddersfield on Tuesday night, Derby have 37 points from 31 matches in the Championship. The Rams are now in 18th place, and nine points clear of Rotherham United, who are 22nd.
That 2-0 win over Huddersfield was the result of a strong performance from Derby. George Edmundson and Martyn Waghorn scored the goals in a game which also saw Huddersfield's Jaden Brown sent off late on.
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Forest, on the other hand, have won their last two Championship games. At the moment, they have two points more than Derby but have also played a game more than Rooney's men.
In their last game, Forest beat Rotherham United 1-0, with Ryan Yates scoring the only goal of the game.
Chris Hughton has once again done a tremendous job in stabilizing the ship at another club. The hope for Forest will now be that they can kick on and maintain a promotion push next season.
Derby County vs Nottingham Forest Head-to-Head
Nottingham Forest have beaten Derby 42 times in the past, while losing on 38 occasions. There have been 28 draws in the previous 108 fixtures between these two sides.
The reverse fixture, which happened in October, finished 1-1. Martyn Waghorn opened the scoring, but Lyle Taylor scored the goal that gave Forest the point.
Derby County form guide: W-L-W-W-L
Nottingham Forest form guide: W-W-L-D-W
Derby County vs Nottingham Forest Team News
Derby County
Polish midfielder Krystian Bielik is ruled out for this game. Aside from Bielik's absence, they have a full squad to choose from.
Injured: Krystian Bielik
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Nottingham Forest
Hughton will continue to be without four of his first-team players for this game. Harry Arter, Samba Sow, Scott McKenna and Sammy Ameobi are all ruled out for this game.
Injuries: Harry Arter, Sammy Ameobi, Scott McKenna, Samba Sow
Suspension: None
Derby County vs Nottingham Forest Predicted XIs
Derby County Predicted XI (4-4-2): David Marshall; Nathan Byrne, Andre Wisdom, George Edmundson, Lee Buchanan; Patrick Roberts, Max Bird, Graeme Shinnie, Martin Waghorn; Colin Kazim-Richards, Jason Knight
Nottingham Forest Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Brice Samba; Yuri Ribeiro, Tobias Figueiredo, Joe Worrall, Cyrus Christie; Cafu, James Garner; Anthony Knockaert, Filip Krovinovic, Alex Mighten; Glenn Murray
Derby County vs Nottingham Forest Prediction
This game is difficult to predict because both of these sides have had largely similar trajectories this season.
With both in pretty good form at the moment, we are predicting a draw in this encounter.
Prediction: Derby County 1-1 Nottingham Forest
