Having come so close to making it into the Premier League last season, Derby County will begin the new Championship campaign still wondering what might have been.

A Bobby Zamora goal in the 90th minute of the playoff final at Wembley saw Queens Park Rangers promoted to the top flight instead of Derby, who were left devastated having finish third in the regular season table.

However, the form that the Rams showed under Steve McClaren throughout the 2013-14 campaign has led to increased levels of optimism that they can get the job done within the 46 matches this time around.

They will also be buoyed by the news that McClaren has now signed a new contract with the club, and they go into Saturday's match against Rotherham United as one of the early favourites for the title.

A mixed bag in pre-season makes it interesting to see how Derby will perform against the underdogs of Rotherham, although they have done a decent job of keeping their squad together.

McClaren has also added Leon Best on loan for the season, but the Blackburn Rovers striker could be forced to wait for his debut.

While Derby have realistic ambitions of winning the title, the number one priority for Rotherham this season will be staying in the division.

The League One playoff champions have been busy during the summer, adding more players than any other side in the Championship as they look to make themselves competitive in the second tier.

They will no doubt be looking at Bournemouth's performance last season as inspiration for what a promoted club can do, but with such an overhaul of players it could take time for the squad to gel.

Pre-season results have generally been good for the Millers, although their last outing saw them comfortably beaten by newly-promoted Leicester City.

Any result against Derby would represent a strong start to the season and could well act as a platform for them to build from and shock a few over the next nine months.

Recent form

Derby: WDWLWW

Rotherham: WDWWWL

Possible starting lineups

Derby: Grant; Christie, Forsyth, Keogh, Naylor; Bryson, Hendrick, Hughes; Russell, Martin, Dawkins

Rotherham: Loach; Broadfoot, Wood, Arnason, Sadler; Swift, Green, Frecklington, Pringle; Revell, Derbyshire

Sports Mole says: 3-1