Nottingham Forest vs Derby County. Sky Bet Championship.
The City GroundAttendance29,106.
Sunday 11 March 2018 09:05, UK
Nottingham Forest boss Aitor Karanka hopes to have Lee Tomlin available when East Midlands rivals Derby visit the City Ground.
The 29-year-old forward, who has scored three goals in six appearances since joining the Reds on loan from Cardiff in January, missed the midweek draw at Norwich through a combination of fatigue and a calf problem. Karanka could opt for another option on the bench against Derby which might see Barrie McKay return to the squad.
Eric Lichaj was available at Carrow Road after suspension, but was overlooked after Forest collected seven points during his three-match ban. The full-back may miss out on a place in the squad once more on Sunday.
Derby face mounting injury concerns as they look to get their promotion challenge back on track. Joe Ledley is facing a month on the sidelines with the calf problem that forced him off early on in the 1-1 draw with QPR in midweek. Fellow midfielder Tom Huddlestone is nursing a dead leg following the game at Loftus Road and he is a doubt.
Rams boss Gary Rowett, whose side are without a win in six Championship matches, is also waiting on the fitness of David Nugent and Cameron Jerome. Both strikes have been struggling with back injuries. George Thorne (calf) and Sam Winnall (knee) remain out while Chris Baird will serve the final game of his three-match ban.
Nottingham Forest are unbeaten in their last four home league meetings with Derby (W2 D2)
These sides haven't played out a goalless league draw at the City Ground since April 1906, with at least one goal in each of the 31 matches since.
Aitor Karanka has won four of his last five Championship meetings with Derby, drawing the other.
Derby are winless in six Championship matches (W0 D4 L2) - only Sunderland are on a longer current run (eight matches).
Lee Tomlin has had a hand in five goals in his last three Championship matches (three goals, two assists).
Matej Vydra has scored nine goals in eight league appearances against Nottingham Forest.
Derby just cannot buy a win at the moment. They were favourites behind Wolves for automatic promotion a couple of weeks ago but now they are at risk of slipping out of the play-offs entirely.
Nottingham Forest would love to strike a blow to their rivals' top-six chances, there's no doubt about that. It will be more than enough to get the home fans going at the City Ground and it should be a cracking atmosphere on Sunday. I cannot split them at the moment, and I think it will be a draw.
David Prutton predicts: 2-2 with Matej Vydra to score first (45/1 with Sky Bet)
