Championship 2015-16 season preview: Derby County

With 13 games of the 2014-15 season to go, Derby County were top of the Championship and on course to end their eight-year wait for Premier League football.

There was not much separating those in the hunt, but the Rams were still expected to get at least a top-six place and perhaps go one better than the season before when they were cruelly beaten in the playoff final by Queens Park Rangers.

What transpired was a woeful collapse as Steve McClaren's side recorded just two victories in those last 13 matches to plummet to eighth by the end of the season. Despite the slump, former England boss McClaren is back in the Premier League with Newcastle United and Derby have been busy since his departure.

There will be plenty of expectation on Paul Clement's shoulders as he embarks on his first managerial role, with promotion a must following a summer of big spending.

In

Chris Baird (West Bromwich Albion), Darren Bent (Aston Villa), Scott Carson (Wigan Athletic), Alex Pearce (Reading), Andreas Weimann (Aston Villa), Tom Ince (Hull City), Jason Shackell (Burnley)

Out

Shaun Barker, Sam Dryden (Dundee), Ross Etheridge (Accrington Stanley), John Eustace, Luke Hendrie, Josh Lelan (Northampton Town), Lee Naylor, Tom Naylor (Burton Albion), Mark O'Brien (Luton Town), Rhys Sharpe (Notts County), Jamie Ward (Nottingham Forest), Zak Whitbread, Farrend Rawson (Rotherham United, half-season loan), Kelle Roos (Rotherham United, season-long loan), Raul Albentosa (Malaga, season-long loan), Conor Sammon (Sheffield United, season-long loan), Kwame Thomas (Blackpool, half-season loan)

Last season - 8th

Manager - Paul Clement

Carlo Ancelotti's assistant at Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid has taken the step into management after several years as a number two and he certainly seems to have landed on his feet at the iPro Stadium.

He has inherited a squad full of talent and been able to sign both exciting youngsters like Ince and experienced old heads like Baird and Shackell. They have been added to a squad that was already perhaps the strongest in the league and it would be a massive failure if Clement cannot do any better than McClaren last season.

Key Player - Tom Ince

After understandably leaving sinking ship Blackpool last summer, Ince did not get much of a look-in with Hull City in the Premier League. His first loan spell back in the Championship was unsuccessful as Nottingham Forest took a turn for the worse after a fast start to the season.

He failed to score in six appearances under former England Under-21 manager Stuart Pearce, but had much more success with Forest's East Midlands rivals Derby, bagging 11 goals in 18 appearances. That haul impressed Derby enough to pay his Hull release clause and Rams fans will hope there are more Player of the Month awards after he scooped the gong for his April displays earlier this year.

Possible starting lineup

Grant; Christie, Keogh, Shackell, Forsyth; Hughes, Baird, Hendrick; Ince, Martin, Weimann

First game: Bolton Wanderers (A), Full fixture list

Sports Mole says

The Rams are the bookies' favourites for promotion and although the Championship always throws up some big surprises, it is hard to look past Derby for the title this season. The big question mark is with Clement and whether he will be ready for the rigours of managing in one of the toughest leagues the world, but even if it takes him a little while to adapt, there is just so much quality in the squad.

The club recently told us that it was not promotion or bust this term, but it certainly feels that way given just how much money has been splashed on new faces. With Jamie Ward the only notable departure and signings like Ince, Darren Bent, Jason Shackell and Andreas Weimann, Derby should storm to the title.