Derby County will make the trip to Preston North End on Saturday afternoon looking to record their first victory under Paul Clement.
Preston sit one point above their opponents in the Championship standings, but the Deepdale outfit enter the contest having suffered defeat in their last two league outings.
Preston North End
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After promotion to the Championship, Preston achieved the solid start that they would have been looking for, as well as the added bonus of posting three successive clean sheets.
However, back-to-back defeats to promotion hopefuls Ipswich Town and Hull City have hindered their progress and they enter the first weekend after the international break needing a positive result to avoid slipping towards the relegation zone.
That task has been made all the more difficult with news of Jermaine Beckford's injury. He had only made two brief substitute appearances but Simon Grayson had been relying on last season's loan star to provide the goals to ensure that the club stayed away from the bottom six.
His presence will be missed, but fortunately for North End, it is a position that they are well stocked in, with their lacklustre showings in front of goal forcing Grayson's hand in the transfer market.
Preston's last home fixture saw them overcome Premier League Watford, but for the first time this season, Grayson faces a certain amount of pressure to keep their points tally ticking over ahead of what is a busy period of the campaign.
Recent form: DWDLL
Recent form (all competitions): DWDLWL
Derby County
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Ahead of the new season, there was plenty of excitement at the iPro Stadium, but in the space of six games, Paul Clement has realised that managing a Championship side is a million miles away from working on the backroom staff at Real Madrid.
In terms of personnel, Clement has assembled arguably the strongest squad in the division, but no win in six, including a defeat at home to Leeds United just before the international break, has left the Rams on the back foot.
Fortunately for the East Midlands club, the two-week break came at the right time and with the likes of Bradley Johnson and Jacob Butterfield linking up with the team, they should return to action with a renewed sense of purpose to get a win on the board.
Four of their five league games have ended in draws, and they were perhaps unfortunate to lose out to Leeds, but they are already six points behind the automatic promotion spots, and even though it is still early in the season, they need to put together a sustained run of form.
There is no indication that Clement is under any kind of pressure at a club he only arrived at in June, but only results will ease the tension and frustration of the fans, who have witnessed just two wins in the Championship since February 28.
Recent form: DDDDL
Recent form (all competitions): DLDDDL
Team News
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On Thursday, Preston were rocked with the news that Beckford, who netted 18 goals last season, would be missing for a number of months after undergoing surgery on a knee injury.
Grayson has also revealed that Jordan Hugill and Kyel Reid would be absent after suffering knocks in a Lancashire Cup tie earlier this week.
New signings Stevie May and Eoin Doyle are in contention, though, after joining the club on deadline day from Sheffield Wednesday and Cardiff City respectively.
As for Derby, Johnson and Butterfield could be immediately drafted into the starting lineup after moving to the East Midlands.
However, midfielder George Thorne will miss out after sustaining a minor calf injury in their last fixture.
Preston North End possible starting lineup:
Pickford, Clarke, Huntington, Wright, Humphrey, Welsh, Kilkenny, Woods, Johnson, Gallagher, Garner
Derby County possible starting lineup:
Carson, Baird, Keogh, Shackell, Forsyth, Hanson, Johnson, Hendrick, Ince, Martin, Russell
Head To Head
Preston hold a narrow advantage in the head-to-head record, with North End winning 22 times from 53 matches, compared to 18 victories for Derby.
However, the Rams have won the previous three, with the last fixture taking place on New Year's Day in 2011 when Chris Porter struck twice in a 2-1 success.
Since the 2005-06 campaign, Preston have managed just one win in six attempts in front of their own supporters.
Video Preview
Hit play below to see what the Sports Mole Sofa had to say about this encounter:
We say: Preston North End 1-2 Derby County
With clean sheets being kept against both Middlesbrough and Watford, Preston know how to keep it tight at the back at home, but we believe that back-to-back setbacks may have dented their confidence, and with Derby now possessing the talents of Bradley Johnson in the middle of the park, they should have enough to sneak a narrow win in the North-West.
Darren Plant
