Nottingham Forest will be looking for a win against their bitter rivals Derby County to underline their promotion push and go level on points with second-placed Preston North End.

The Rams, however, are down in 15th in the Championship and will hope to climb into the top half while denting Forest's hopes of promotion at the same time.

Match preview

Forest have gone under the radar somewhat but, should they win their game in hand against Derby, they would move onto 28 points for the season - level with Preston, Leeds United and Swansea City.

It would be a big step for Sabri Lamouchi's side to only be outside an automatic promotion place due to goal difference - assuming they do not beat Derby by a very unlikely seven-goal margin.

Forest's opening-day defeat to table-topping West Bromwich Albion and their subsequent draw with promotion favourites Leeds saw many turn their attention elsewhere, but they followed that up with a nine-game unbeaten run in the Championship, before a pair of successive defeats against Wigan Athletic and Hull City dented their progress.

They also went on an EFL Cup run that was ended by a 5-0 defeat to Arsenal, but not before a 3-0 thumping of Derby in the first meeting between the pair this season.

Derby started the season with a 2-1 win over Huddersfield, but then failed to register another victory in their seven subsequent Championship games.

Phillip Cocu's side have since won four of their last seven as they work their way back into form, but the Rams have been plagued by inconsistency even in this period, failing to win back-to-back games even once in this run.

Their campaign has also been marred by the incident involving Tom Lawrence, Mason Bennett and former club captain Richard Keogh, which has seen the latter seriously injured and sacked for gross misconduct.

However, Lawrence and Bennett remain involved and the former scored both goals in Derby's 2-0 win over Middlesbrough last time out.

Nottingham Forest form: WDWLLW
Derby County form: DWLWLW

Team News

Forest manager Lamouchi is without long-term absentee Tendayi Darikwa until next year after he suffered an ACL injury in pre-season.

On-loan defensive midfielder Alfa Semedo is also expected to miss the contest with a back problem, but he should return after the international break, with Samba Sow and Yohan Benalouane given the same timescale.

Michael Dawson could be back in time to be involved against the Rams, however, after suffering a calf injury in late September, but Carl Jenkinson is still a few weeks away from a comeback.

Derby head coach Cocu is set to be without Scott Malone after he suffered an injury against Middlesbrough, with Max Lowe on hand to deputise.

Krystian Bielik should be fit to play, but long-term absentees Tom Huddlestone and Craig Forsyth remain out.

Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:
Samba; Cash, Worrall, Figueiredo, Ribeiro; Watson, Silva, Yates; Lolley, Grabban, Ameobi

Derby County possible starting lineup:
Roos; Bogle, Davies, Clarke, Lowe; Bielik, Shinnie; Marriott, Holmes, Lawrence; Martin

We say: Nottingham Forest 1-1 Derby County

Forest have had a strong season but have dropped off a little in their last few matches, while the opposite is true for Derby. Given the bitter nature of this derby clash, neither side is likely to give an inch and the Rams will be determined not to be beaten again. Forest are slight favourites, but it's hard to split the two, and a fiercely-contested draw could be the result of this one.