Preview: Derby County vs. Bolton Wanderers - prediction, team news, lineups

On Saturday, Derby County will play host to Bolton Wanderers in a crucial clash in the race to win promotion to the Championship.

The Rams are sitting in second place in the League One table, while the Trotters are just one point adrift in third position.

Match preview

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After finishing February with consecutive defeats, Derby have got their promotion bid back on track with three successive victories.

The Rams claimed 3-0 wins over Port Vale and Bristol Rovers, before they edged past Reading in Tuesday's home fixture.

After seeing Dwight Gayle's opener cancelled out by Sam Smith, Derby were given a boost when the Royals were reduced to 10 men in the 59th minute.

Conor Hourihane ultimately went on to score the winner, keeping his composure from the penalty spot to clinch Derby's third win in four home games.

Although they will face a tough test this weekend, the hosts can draw inspiration from the fact that they have won each of their last five home games against Bolton, including a narrow 2-1 victory when the two sides last faced off at Pride Park in January 2023.

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Bolton played out consecutive 2-2 draws in their away meetings with Barnsley and Exeter City, before they returned to winning ways with a dominant performance in Tuesday's home game against Oxford United.

Nathanael Ogbeta, Josh Dacres-Cogley, George Thomason, Aaron Collins and Josh Sheehan all got on the scoresheet to guide the Trotters to a resounding 5-0 victory, extending their unbeaten run to four matches.

The Trotters will now turn their focus to Saturday's crucial encounter, where they will have to end a four-game winless away run if they are to leapfrog Derby into second place.

They have also failed to win any of their previous nine away games against the Rams since recording a 2-1 victory in a League Cup fixture in October 1999.

Nevertheless, they do have the chance to complete a league double over the Rams after claiming a 2-1 win in the reverse fixture thanks to goals from Dion Charles and Dacres-Cogley.

Team News

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Derby are having to cope with a lengthy injury list which includes Josh Vickers, Jake Rooney, Ryan Nyambe, Max Bird, Conor Washington and Tyreece-John Jules.

The Rams also remain without the services of their top scorer James Collins, who is recovering from a knee injury that he sustained last month.

Midfielder Tyrese Fornah will have to be assessed ahead of the weekend after he missed the midweek win over Reading with a back problem.

As for the visitors, Victor Adeboyejo will be out for around four to six weeks after he picked up a hamstring injury against Exeter City earlier this month.

The forward is joined on the sidelines by Carlos Mendes, Dan Nlundulu, Nathan Baxter and Bolton's top scorer Charles.

After seeing his side brush past Oxford, Bolton boss Ian Evatt could be tempted to select an unchanged starting lineup for Saturday's contest.

Derby County possible starting lineup: Wildsmith; Cashin, Bradley, Nelson; Ward, Hourihane, Adams, Sibley; Barkhuizen; Mendez-Laing, Gayle

Bolton Wanderers possible starting lineup: Coleman; Jones, Santos, Toal; Dacres-Cogley, Maghoma, Thomason, Ogbeta; Bodvarsson, Collins

We say: Derby County 1-1 Bolton Wanderers

The two teams will want to claim maximum points to boost their promotion hopes, but with Derby and Bolton both desperate to avoid defeat, we think that a close-fought contest could finish all square.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.