Preview: Derby County vs. Reading

Derby County will be without Tom Ince for their all-Championship tie with Reading in the FA Cup last 16 on Saturday.

The winger has made quite an impact since joining on loan from Hull City, but is ineligible having already played for the Tigers during this year's competition.

Deadline-day capture Ince has scored three goals in two games to help the Rams stay right in the hunt for automatic promotion.

Their 2-2 draw with rivals Bournemouth on Tuesday was a valuable point, but actually allowed Middlesbrough to leapfrog them both and become the new league leaders.

Darren Bent was also on the scoresheet at Dean Court and now has four in five outings as Steve McClaren's loan signings continue to prove prosperous.

The former England striker replaced Chris Martin 15 minutes into the midweek game and will be promoted to the starting lineup at the iPro Stadium as Derby's 19-goal top scorer nurses a hamstring strain.

Loanee Jesse Lingard, who has not played any competitive games since coming off injured in Manchester United's Premier League opener, and Simon Dawkins are competing to replace Ince on the wing.

Elsewhere McClaren is likely to stick with the same side which held Bournemouth, with Jeff Hendrick preferred to Craig Bryson in midfield and Craig Forsyth keeping Stephen Warnock waiting for his debut at left-back.

Club captain Shaun Barker started a game for the first time in nearly three years when playing for the Under-21s side on Wednesday. George Thorne also featured but both are still some time away from first-team returns.

Having only had to overcome non-League Southport and League One Chesterfield to reach this stage, Derby face their sternest cup test yet against a Reading side who have already knocked out two Championship rivals.

The Royals won at Huddersfield Town in round three and then came from behind to beat Cardiff City 2-1 in Wales. The draw has put them on the road again, but Steve Clarke's side can take solace in their recent away record.

They have lost only one of their last six matches on their travels in all competitions. They did, however, lose 2-0 at home to Leeds United on Tuesday and so their manager may revert to the side which won at Wolverhampton Wanderers.

That would mean a recall for Simon Cox as Pavel Pogrebnyak's strike partner, with Nick Blackman dropping to the bench and Hal Robson-Kanu coming back in for Oliver Norwood in a five-man midfield.

Former Middlesbrough and Portsmouth forward Yakubu scored 11 FA Cup goals in his previous spell in England and should be named among the substitutes, but Jem Karacan and Chris Gunter remain injured.

These two sides have already met twice this season, once in the Championship and once in the Capital One Cup, with Derby prevailing by a 5-0 aggregate scoreline.

Derby:

Form in FA Cup: LWLLWW Form in all competitions: LWWWWD

Possible starting lineup: Grant; Christie, Keogh, Buxton, Forsyth; Mascarell, Hendrick, Hughes; Lingard, Ward; Bent

Reading:

Form in FA Cup: WWLLWW Form in all competitions: LWDWWL

Possible starting lineup: Federici; Kelly, Pearce, Hector; Robson-Kanu, Obita, Williams, Chalobah, McCleary; Cox, Pogrebnyak

Sports Mole says: 3-1