Derby County vs Fulham. Sky Bet Championship.
Pride Park StadiumAttendance27,138.
Friday 2 March 2018 12:27, UK
Derby will be without the suspended Chris Baird for their home clash with Championship promotion rivals Fulham.
The defender begins a three-match ban against his former club after he was sent off in the draw at Reading. Rams boss Gary Rowett has confirmed that Andre Wisdom will replace Baird at right-back.
Leading scorer Matej Vydra was absent at the Madejski Stadium but he has trained this week and Rowett will make a decision on his fitness.
Fulham manager Slavisa Jokanovic has a full strength squad to choose from. The Cottagers inflicted a rare defeat on Wolves last weekend to extend their unbeaten run to 12 league games.
After defeating the Championship leaders, Jokanovic is unlikely to make many changes to his starting line-up and he may even pick the same team at Pride Park Stadium. Denis Odoi, former Ram Cyrus Christie, Oliver Norwood and Lucas Piazon are among those who could come into Jokanovic's thinking should he tweak things.
Derby have won each of their last seven home league matches against Fulham in the second tier by an aggregate score of 16-3.
Fulham have kept one clean sheet in their last 25 away league visits to Derby, a 1-0 win in January 2002 in the Premier League.
Kasey Palmer has scored in each of his last two league appearances for Derby - as many as in his previous 25 combined (three games for Derby, 22 for Huddersfield).
Fulham have won the most points (23) and scored the most goals (22) of any Championship side in 2018 so far.
The Rams haven't drawn three consecutive league matches at Pride Park since December 2005.
Ryan Sessegnon has scored 13 goals from just 16 shots on target in the Championship this season.
Derby will be starting to get a little bit nervous that it's all happening again. They looked so assured a few weeks ago but now have just one win in their last seven and they are drifting back down the table.
Fulham, meanwhile, are absolutely flying and will be full of confidence heading to Pride Park, especially after that victory over Wolves last week. I think Slavisa Jokanovic's side will claim all three points.
David Prutton predicts: 1-2 (9/1 with Sky Bet)
